INSPIRATION: Our inspiration to do this project came from the fact that we are ourselves space enthusiasts. We recognised that although a lot of apps existed out there on this similar topic, none of them provided a complete range of information from a reliable source. Also the mode of data presentation of these existing applications were very old fashioned and boring, making even something like space exploration look boring! So we decided to take up this challenge and do something about this situation ourselves.

APPROACH: We went with an android app as it is the most commonly available device to people around the globe. An android smartphone also has built-in sensors and a camera which meant we could easily implement VR and AR. We decided to make the app in Unity platform as we also knew the basics and also it is commonly used in AR and VR development in the market already. To complete the experience we wanted people to interact with the application as naturally as possible and that is where thw idea of building and implementing the VR headset and Vr suit came in.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: Our project Augmented Space Eye or ACE for short, is a product comprising of an AR based smartphone app and a hand tracking suit that lets you interact with the app in a natural manner.Our application features full range of features for every thing related to space like like live satellite tracking, satelllite map of the whole world with satellite data directly fetched from NASA database, rocket launch tracking, live launch videos, a full fledged VR NASA facility where you can roam around and a MARs experience where you get to be the CURIOSITY ROVER!!!

HARDWARE: We have made a glove capable of tracking finger movements. We have precisely 8 tracking points per hand with an IMU sensor to track the position of the hand. The sensors that tack the finger movement are custom sensors made by us using recycled allunimiun soft-drink cans. The overall structure of the glove and the rest of the suit is made of recycled cardboard. The idea behind this is to make the suit as much eco-friendly as possible and also reducing its cost thus boosting its affordibility and thus staying true to our team moto....TECHNOLOGY FOR EVERYONE.The harware side of the project is powered by an arduino sporting an Atmega32U4 chip and thus the programming was done on the Arduino IDE. The suit also has sensors that detect steps which means the user has to step in real life to move around in the virtual one thereby keeping the use more actively involved with the whole setup.

SOFTWARE:

We have used Unity as the app/game development platform. This has allowed us to generate high resolution game with customizable UI. All the programming was done in C# and java as the base language We have used Android and WebGL extensions along with Vuforia for AR compatibility and XR Package for VR compatibility. The app has been split into several Scenes to reduce overhead redundancy on any particular scene thus allowing us to render high quality graphics without it being heavy for the processor. The app also use the device's in built GPS for location details. The app uses device's in built gyroscope to give the use a better experience. All the 3D modeling have been done using Blender and Autodesk Fusion 360 which allows for high resolution yet geometrically perfect 3D models . We have also used online tools for height map, occlusion map generation for the game. Overall our app provides an interactive user experience and at the same time educates the user about the outer space and provides valuable information about NASA as well.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

HARDWARE:

By using recycled materials like recycled alluminium soft-drink cans, we have sucessfully developed sensors that can be used to detect the movement of fingers.This formed the basis of our whole hardware segment. We also included IMU sensor for position tracking and incorporated a step detecting system to give that actual feeling of moving around. For the base of the whole system we again turned to materials like recycled cardboard thus boosting the eco-friendliness and affordibility of this project further.

SOFTWARE:

By utilizing the time that we had we have been successful in making the app interactive, attractive yet informative .The game environment of the app will attract user especially young generation to use the app and at the same time to play the game successfully they need to go through the several space activities happening thus ensuring that they learn about the space mission of NASA in an interactive way and stay informed of the satellites around them. We have been successful in reducing the processor load of the app and thereby was able to provide good graphics ,sound effects and voice notations .We intend to make the app a complete space activities tracking app along with the scope for the user to use their innovative minds to develop their own prototypes in the game thus fulfilling their hunger for live out of the world experience. These budding innovative ideas and new designs created by young innovators might prove to be an idea that can change the history of space science, thus if NASA monitors this app they will might also advantage by getting ideas that might help them to develop new technologies.

PROBLEMS:

Time was the most limiting factor for the further development of the app. We did spent the entire time making the app perfect and integrating features but we could complete only a part of what we intended to integrate. The rocket building and space training workshop in the game was to have many more features which we could not complete due to time bindings.

One of the other limiting factor was getting live data feed as the tools and permissions available to us only allowed receiving a limited data over the web this limited us from using certain data in the app and we had to use reference link to external sites for these sectors. With proper permissions to access data and a little more developmental time we can surely make the app the real Augmented Space Eyes an informative tracking and training platform for all.

On the Hardware side of things time was again a limiiting factor and although my whole product works as intended, i think more time and a little more callibration of our homemade sensors would further enhance the performance and we would be capable of adding even more featues.

• 3D models are imported from https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models and is used for graphics rendering of the satellite map and tracker.
• For live ISS tracking over the current location https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/index.cfm has been linked to the app as an external site.
• Image reference of plane mars has been taken from https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/panoramas/?page=0&per_page=25&order=pub_date+desc&search=&category=304%2C305%3A176&url_suffix=%3Fsite%3Dmslfor modeling terrain and generating texture materials for the live planetary view of plane Mars.
• For live satellite tracking live data feed is being taken from https://www.n2yo.com/?s=28485 by listening to the sites open data buffer logs.
• All satellite data has been taken fromhttps://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-databaseincluding name, Country/Org of UN Registry , Country of Operator/Owner , Operator/Owner , Users , Purpose , Detailed Purpose , Class of Orbit , Type of Orbit , Longitude of GEO (degrees) , Perigee (km) , Apogee (km) , Eccentricity , Inclination (degrees) , Period (minutes) , Launch Mass (kg.) , Dry Mass (kg.) , Power (watts) , Date of Launch , Expected Lifetime (yrs.) , Contractor , Country of Contractor , Launch Site , Launch Vehicle , COSPAR Number , NORAD Number.
• World's spaceport location map details that is being used for graphics depicting launch site has been taken from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/10/news-spaceports-cosmodromes-maps-world-space-week/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TUMk6cqRjs&feature=youtu.be

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html

https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/index.cfm

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/panoramas/?page=0&per_page=25&order=pub_date+desc&search=&category=304%2C305%3A176&url_suffix=%3Fsite%3Dmsl

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/10/news-spaceports-cosmodromes-maps-world-space-week/

https://www.n2yo.com/?s=28485

https://www.wikipedia.org/