Starsight VR development project

StarsightVR project leader Alastair Bruce, with Edinburgh astronomer Chelsea MacLeod pointing out the stars she can see with the headset.

StarsightVR aims at running live virtual reality stargazing shows over the internet. The project got a start with a small grant from STFC, which has allowed us to adapt the Stellarium planetarium software for use with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, and add features which allow us to run in a master-slave configuration, so that we can run a presenter-led astronomy show from Edinburgh, with viewers anywhere else in the world. We have demonstrated this system at a variety of venues, including the Edinburgh International Science Festival, and everybody loves it.

To continue this project, the shows themselves will be run by volunteer effort from Edinburgh staff and students, but the software system needs more work, to add key features, make it more robust, and adapt for the final consumer version of the Oculus headset. So far, we have raised £910 through an earlier Crowdfunder campaign. If you missed this and would like to contribute to the StarsightVR software development budget you can donate via the ROE Trust here.

You can find out more at the StarsightVR web page.