Giving everyone the opportunity to explore space by putting a virtual reality camera on the International Space Station!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
$78k and going up! Why I Started SpaceVR
over 8 years ago
– Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 11:57:01 PM
Hello VRnauts,
When I had the idea for SpaceVR, I was sitting at a coworking desk. No team. No funding. Recently spent most of my money to move to San Francisco from Tampa, Florida. I wanted to do something I could spend my life on. Something that could really change the world.
During my research, I found a documentary called Overview. A beautifully done, short film interviewing astronauts about their experience in space. After enough interviews, it became clear that the experience of being in space wasn’t just an experience. It was a life changing event.
It changed them. They now understood something from direct exposure that we on Earth do not. They realized that the world we know and love, the world that we wake up and go to sleep on everyday is not significant. It’s small and delicate. Something to be fiercely protected.
We hear about issues every single day. Syrian refugees. School shootings. Short term policy decisions. Military overspending. Education underspending. We approach these issues like they have nothing to do with us. Like they only exist somewhere else.
I believe that we can bridge that gap. With as simple of an act as exposing the world to space through virtual reality, we will have the opportunity to know who we really are as a civilization. We can realize that this small world is ours and we can shape it into the beautiful paradise that we want.
Here we are today in front of you with ambitious hearts, a functioning prototype and a solid plan.
Let’s show the world that there are no limits. There are no borders. That anyone with a dream can change the world forever.
Ryan Holmes
CEO, SpaceVR
RECOMMEND-A-FRIEND!!!
over 8 years ago
– Fri, Oct 02, 2015 at 09:19:01 PM
Photo courtesy of NASA & ESA
Hello VRnauts,
6 days left and already 72% funded!!! Whoohooo!! We're almost there!! If you haven't already, be sure to share our project on your social media channels or forward this email. Tell your friends and family in person, text message, skype, email, carrier pigeon, etc - whatever gets the job done! Consider increasing your pledge to get us over the finish line!
For our final push, we are excited to introduce our RECOMMEND-A-FRIEND Program. For each friend that pledges $50 or more, you get a SpaceVR Unlimited Content Package!!! Keep it for yourself or give it to someone special in your life who shares your love for space. SpaceVR content packages are great for gifts!!!
Instructions: 1. Simply get your friend to pledge $50 or higher have him/her send us a note via private message who referred them. 2. You send us a message confirming that person's name. 3. We send you a confirmation message!
Let's push hard these last few days!!! We're so incredibly close.
Ad Astra,
Ryan Holmes
CEO, SpaceVR
Tech Update VIII: 360 Stitching Software
over 8 years ago
– Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 06:39:40 PM
What you are seeing is SpaceVR’s high altitude balloon test at an altitude of ~60,000 feet (18.288 km). It was captured using our 1U four camera prototype camera and stitched together using Kolor Autopano Pro 4.0 software. This software automatically synchronizes your video streams and stitches them together to get a full 360-degree video with uniformly calibrated color and exposure - all rendered in Full HD, 4K. Watch other VR content we've already collected with the Overview One prototype at http://spacevr.co/vrcontent
Four major elements critical to capturing compelling VR video include proper lens calibration, well defined rig geometry, parallax compensation and unsynchronization / rolling shutter compensation. We correct for radial distortions unique to each wide angle (179 degrees) lens manually on the ground before launch. Our rig is stable to within ±0.01 inches (±0.254 mm) and uses camera overlap with more than 500 stitching features per image. Parallax compensation on the Overview One, especially at video boundaries, is critical since objects are closer than 6 feet (2 m) to the camera. We plan to perform more R&D and image collection studies inside ISS mockups at NASA Ames to fine tune this parameter. The GoPro HERO4 does use a rolling shutter; however, GoPro states that firmware updates are ‘virtually eliminating rolling shutter in most scenarios[1]. This simplifies, but doesn’t totally remove, that concern. As SpaceVR moves forward with live stitching on orbit, technology from VideoStitch across multiple Nvidia X1 GPU cores will be critical.
Tech updates will be released every 3 days. The next topic...Mechanical Design. You can ask other technical questions in the comments below and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSpaceVR
We feel so honored and inspired by the support we've received thus far. To reach $68K in 21 days is quite outstanding, and hearing so many positive comments from our supporters provides the wind in our sails each and every day. From all of us here at SpaceVR, thank you!!!
Our team has created an initiative called the VR Kids Program to inspire children in underprivileged schools and get them excited about science and space exploration!
Through this program, SpaceVR will be equipping four school libraries per year with free VR hardware and software. Vote for the school of your choice at the following link and help us inspire the next generation of explorers! www.spacevr.co/vr-kids-program
You can also support us by sharing this initiative on social media or forwarding it to a friend! Lets ALL experience the Overview Effect together and change the world...
Ryan Holmes
CEO, SpaceVR
Tech Update VII: NASA Requirements
over 8 years ago
– Sun, Sep 27, 2015 at 09:15:17 PM
We have these documents laying around the office. They were key to generating the Overview One - Mission Definition Review document.
Figure 7 - Paperwork courtesy of NASA taken by SpaceVR
These requirements are critical for astronaut safety and reducing technical program risk. NanoRacks & SpaceVRs experience with the NASA design process and the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook will ensure the design can be produced with acceptable risk and at a feasible cost.
Tech updates will be released every 3 days. The next topic...360 Stitching Software. You can ask other technical questions in the comments below and on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSpaceVR. View our mid campaign Q&A video at https://youtu.be/vAIGVWETPrE
