Data Release Of ESA's Gaia Mission With VR Visualization

The scale in VR is mind blowing. I've barely played it in VR really but have done stuff like just sat in the asteroid field going "Wow... just wow..."

Just like in Entropia, I do shit like this in Elite... youknow... I just look at things and go wow a lot.

 

Strange that the joystick I’ll probably get sounds a bit like my Forum name (Thrustmaster Hotas...less than £50).

Now do I try ED first to see if I am ‘space capable’ or do I get the joystick first so that I can hit the ground/space running?

 

get the stick and then get star wars episode 1 racer :D I rather enjoy flying around Entropia using a stick too.

 

Ahh OK thanks Wistrel I will take your advice. :)

I look like winning a (non EU) competition in a few weeks so will be able to afford ED and joystick then.

Never thought about using joystick in EU but OK in space travel I assume so will try that.

 

I wish we would get a standard VR-format. I remember well the early 90th when we had no significant picture format for all. There were BMP, TGA and TIFF only ... and this special Mac-type PIC, if I remember right. GIF was restricted by copyrights. Neither JPG nor PNG or PDF. That was a crazy time. Now we have HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PSVR and some others for VR. All with their on format. Not compatible. This should be ended very soon. There is a NASA VR-presentation with Oculus Rift only for free:
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1178419975552187/
Nice, but pretty useless for all others like me with my PSVR. Elite is available for Rift and Vive. Not for PSVR. Strange!

 

That looks pretty cool. My setup is way more simple: A 65" TV with me in 1,5 meter distance and PS4 Plus with controller.

 

I use such a SpacePilot from 3DConnexion since ages because I own and useed so many 3D-programs. Each of them handles move, rotate and zoom in a different way. With the SpacePilot one can handle all programs in the same way. That is a big benefit. But it doesn't work for games as far as I know.

 

Not only games. But visits to places I will never ever see in RL like South America and Africa, ISS, Mars (well, would be boring) or reconstructed places from our past which vanished meanwhile, like ancient Egypt, Rom or Greece. Ubisoft offers a tourist tour to it's ancient Egypt already (Assassin's Creed Origins, Wistrel made a thread about it). Unfortunately not as VR until now. A good way to grab real places is 3D-laserscanning with texturing (photos). Kinda StreetView in 3D.
Many games would be impressive in VR as well. I've learned that from "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim". I played it for years at flat screen. But in VR everything looks way more impressive and giant. It's just breathtaking. You can compare it to movies. Not everything is worth to be presented in 3D. But some movies MUST be seen in 3D. Gravity, Avatar, Star Wars. But why should be a standard crime thriller in 3D? Or Taxi Driver or Pulp Fiction or The Godfather? Same with games.
All in all it is an amazing experience for those who don't get motion sickness.

 

Well, based on real data it would be indeed boring like hell. Additional real spacecrafts and real engines would destroy everything that could be fun or just interesting enough to explore.
We know something already about our planetary system. Much less about other systems. Just some physical and position data. Even with phantastic travel technology in a game, what shall one do there? I can't imagine a game for ME based on real data.
Oh wait! One idea at least: Building a colony on Mars and organize not only the facility in place but run all the logistics for transports (including orbital stations) and finances. Probably Venus too or dependances on moons including the exploration before such projects start.
Regarding VR. What especially can make you crazy about? Impressive landscapes and constructiones (buildings), large caves and machines, fly in an orbit around a planet or moon. The brutal everyday life of such colonists would be the boring routine. Not very impressive. So we can say: Either a halfway "real" simulation of throughout planet bound settlements or a phantastic exploration adventure throughout our planetary system.
But seriously, why do we need real data for such games? Just some physically basics of planets and moons. We don't have good 3D scans of all surfaces yet. It would be way more simple to model realistic environments based on what we know so far.
So, no game from real data regarding space.

A complete different story are real data from the planet we live on. High mountains, deep sea. We can get such data in a more or less simple way in place. These data can be completed by historical reconstructions and additional informations. We have enough impressive spots right at our front-door. So let's think about simple games for children and interested people to learn more about our planet and our history. Even movie scenes from historical events could be implemented. No limit for possibilities.

I have to admit, that I am the only one from my family and friends who don't get motion sickness. All others so far couldn't enjoy the VR experiance.

 

LOL YEAH! THE GALAXY!
But to go back to your initial question: We neither have enough data from everything outside our planetary system nor the real technology to start with colonizing the galaxy. We have real problems to start a simple Mars-mission. Not to speak about founding a human colony there. Or even to reach the next system Alpha Eridiani if I remember right. 4,5 ly away.
Again: at the other hand we have lots of data about Earth and can get much more. Let's use these data!