grayson_o
Abstract: This project will focus on providing interactive, three-dimensional models of various locales, such as the eleven telescopes of Mauna Kea. These models will be available through the interface of the Oculus Rift, an immersive three-dimensional virtual reality gaming headset. Using the results of this project, people will be able to see and explore locations normally inaccessible to them.
Project Name: Immersive Remote Viewing
Background: In this project, I would like to transform the Virtual Reality (VR) tours - created in previous Energy Lab projects - of the eleven telescopes on Mauna Kea (and map the Thirty Meter Telescope during its construction) into models compatible with immersive 3D virtual reality headsets. Before this project, a former Energy Lab student, Davy Ragland, created several models that work with the Rift. I will be reusing some of this research as I create my models.
Purpose: With this project, I hope to end up with complete, traversable models of at least some of the telescopes on Mauna Kea. By the end of the project, I expect to be able to use and program immersive 3D headsets, and understand better how they and virtual 3D models in general work. I would like to have created interactive models of at least several of the telescopes, if mapping all of them is not feasible.
What will you measure: I will measure the operation of the Oculus Rift and how virtual environments are made.
How will you measure it: I will experiment with the Oculus Rift’s software until the Rift operates as I want it to.
Resources needed: I will use Davy Ragland’s previous research as a starting point to work from; the Oculus Rift itself will be the primary basis for my work. I will require the contents of the biohazard box containing the Oculus Rift (and other augmented/virtual reality devices), as well as Davy’s documentation for his Oculus Rift work. I will also need the previously-created images of the telescopes. Finally, I will require the application Blender (used for 3D modelling and art) and the Unity game engine, which is compatible with the Oculus Rift.
Impact: My project will let people who would not normally be able to visit the telescope array do so. People who suffer acutely from altitude sickness, for example, will now be able to visit the mountaintop. I think that people will better understand how the telescopes operate if they can virtually traverse the array without actually being there; being on top of a mountain in Hawaii, the telescopes are inaccessible to most people due to altitude and legal restrictions. Completing this project would add to my technical skills and provide a vector for me to apply code in new ways. It may also provide an avenue to inform the community of the telescopes; currently they are a rather arcane subject, and inaccessible to many people due to altitude and property restrictions. Though this is entirely a shot in the dark, I also hope that the models may also help to defuse the conflict over the Thirty Meter Telescope, as people will be able to go and look at the telescope rather than it being some nebulous and supposedly evil figure.
Legacy: If my project succeeds, then there will be navigable models of all the areas I map left behind for anyone with access to the files. I will also leave behind documentation on how to map areas for the Oculus Rift, allowing other Energy Lab students to later improve what I have done and launch new projects based on things I develop; somebody might want to create other virtual buildings, or improve on the display technology again if holograms or some other, better, technology becomes available.
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