One giant virtual leap for mankind
Space VR headgear will let you experience space – just like an astronaut
The initial streaming from space is planned in the first quarter of 2016. Long-term goal: Stream from Mars by 2026.
NEW YORK Only about 550 people have ever been to outer space. The folks at Space VR want to give the 7 billion other earthlings a shot at becoming astronauts — at least virtually.
The start-up is beginning with one small step — a Kickstarter campaign launched Monday with a goal of raising $500,000 in 30 days. That would fuel the cost of getting SpaceVR’s specially designed camera called Overview One onto the International Space Station and fund the company through its first year of operation.
Overview One will fit into a 3D-printed camera mount. The stereoscopic 3D-virtual reality camera is meant to capture a live 360-degree view of space.
Back on Earth, SpaceVR’s technology will let folks with Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTV Vive, Google Cardboard or other virtual reality gear view the live video feeds from space.
SpaceVR envisions a subscription model — perhaps around $10 a month for consumers. But the company may also reach out to schools and even license content for games. SpaceVR is agnostic when it comes to which VR gear will be able to be used by the consumer.
For all this to come to fruition, chief technology officer Isaac DeSouza says SpaceVR has needed a little bit of everything: Hardware, approvals, time. But he says the company is on course, with the camera set to be launched into space in December.
I got to don a GearVR headset to watch a rocket take off into space as if I were at Cape Canaveral. Cool as that was, the real magic will presumably come once SpaceVR’s cameras are in outer space and I get to pretend that I’m an astronaut.
That’s what the company’s promotional video on Kickstarter promises anyway.
SpaceVR’s advisers include Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was the sixth person to walk the moon, and private astronaut Richard Garriott. The company is also partnering on the flight manifest with NanoRacks, which specializes in getting payloads to space.
The plan is that you’ll be able to peek at streams captured from the cupola module, the viewing port of the ISS.
There will also be a focus on special events — such as spacewalks, or a view of Earth on July 4 when fireworks are shooting up into the sky.
“From space you can capture that moment for an entire planet all at once,” DeSouza says.
The initial streaming from space is planned in the first quarter of 2016. Long-term goal: stream from Mars by 2026.
“Most people once dreamed of becoming an astronaut. In reality, only a tiny fraction of humanity has experienced life outside Earth’s atmosphere,” says Ryan Holmes, SpaceVR’s co-founder and CEO.
“Our project gives everyone the opportunity to become an astronaut and to realistically experience seeing the Earth in its entirety — recognizing its preciousness and fragility in our universe. It is our goal to offer this experience to anyone through every virtual reality platform.”