{"id":414,"date":"2016-11-01T17:26:26","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T17:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurorasaurudev.wpengine.com\/?p=414"},"modified":"2024-03-18T21:34:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T21:34:17","slug":"check-out-virtual-reality-aurora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/?p=414","title":{"rendered":"Check out Virtual Reality Aurora!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aurora only occur in particular areas of the world and are highly unpredictable which are some of the reasons why many people feel fortunate to see them at all. \u00a0And, for the majority of known human history, you could only experience the beauty and mystique of aurora in person. \u00a0Not anymore! Recently, the first virtual reality experiences for aurora were created! Virtual reality, often referred to as VR, allows users to connect to virtual worlds through using specialized goggles like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"www.oculus.com<\/a>
Credit: www.oculus.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slip them on and you are transported into a different world you can look around in and experience as if you were physically there. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up until recently, experiencing VR involved a significant financial investment for most people. The goggles pictured above sell for nearly $600. \u00a0But, experiencing VR has become more affordable. Now, you can find much cheaper goggles that still deliver an exciting VR experience\u00a0by\u00a0pairing with smartphones and their built-in sensors to deliver the VR experience. \u00a0They act as smartphone holders with special lens optics to optimize the VR experience.\u00a0Samsung has <\/span>this pair of high-quality VR goggles<\/span><\/a> that will work with its\u00a0phones for about $100. Looking for an even more affordable VR experience? <\/span>Try the Google Cardboard VR goggles<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0They are a great starter pair of goggles capable of delivering an exciting VR experience at a fraction of the cost of some of the higher-priced VR options out there, and they work on many different smartphones including Android and iOS operating systems. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Credit:<\/a>
Credit: www.amazon.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The <\/span>View-Master Virtual Reality Goggles<\/span><\/a> are a type of Google Cardboard device made of sturdy plastic that work well with smartphones and only cost about $17 on Amazon. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you do decide to purchase a pair of VR goggles, you can use them to see aurora and a whole host of other exciting things! <\/span>The Cardboard app<\/span><\/a> for either iOS or Android devices has a VR experience called <\/span>\u201cArctic Journey\u201d<\/span><\/a> that features a simulation of aurora too! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In trying the Cardboard App \u201cArctic Journey\u201d experience, here are a few things to keep in mind. \u00a0After you insert your phone into the goggles and put them on, you\u2019ll need to be able to \u201cclick\u201d on things to move forward in the experience. \u00a0To do this, use your eyes as you would your hand; where you move your focus is where you move your \u201ccursor.\u201d \u00a0Once you find the button you’re looking for, such as \u201chome\u201d or \u201cstart\u201d, use the clicker located on the right-hand side of the goggles to select that option. In the Arctic Journey experience be sure to select the \u201cRelax\u201d part of the simulation to be able to experience aurora. If you do, you should see landscapes like this (but not separated as seen below, instead as one 3d viewing experience using the goggles): <\/span><\/p>\n

\"arctic<\/a>
Be sure to line up the center of your phone (marked by the white line) with the center of the device.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, don\u2019t forget to look around! Move your head up and down and all around and you\u2019ll see different parts of the experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, onto the 360\u00b0 video experience of aurora.\u00a0<\/span>YouTube (in partnership with Google) in particular has a great feature for viewing on VR devices. All you have to do to use the VR experience on YouTube is click the \u201cCardboard icon\u201d that looks like this in the bottom right hand corner of the video:<\/p>\n

\"Google-Cardboard-icon-header\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aurorasaurus compiled\u00a0a VR playlist called \u201cVR – 360\u00b0 video\u201d on our <\/span>YouTube channel<\/span><\/a> specifically for a VR viewing experience of the aurora. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

The first video is about 7 \u00bd minutes long and shows beautiful colorful aurora in a very realistic time lapse. \u00a0This playlist aggregates content on YouTube by amazing photographers. VR goggles are a great way to \u201csee\u201d this content, which is now popular on YouTube and Facebook. \u00a0It includes 180\u00b0 or 360\u00b0 camera lenses including fisheye and Ricoh lenses.<\/p>\n

Well, what are you waiting for? Sitting on your couch or at your desk and want to see aurora, right now? \u00a0You can! \u00a0Even without the goggles you can see the video through a smartphone on our YouTube channel moving the phone around to see different angles of the experience. (Don\u2019t forget to LOOK UP to see aurora! ?) <\/span><\/p>\n

Happy viewing! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora only occur in particular areas of the world and are highly unpredictable which are some of the reasons why many people feel fortunate to see them at all. \u00a0And, for the majority of known human history, you could only experience the beauty and mystique of aurora in person. \u00a0Not anymore! Recently, the first virtual… Read More »Check out Virtual Reality Aurora!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aurora-testimonials","category-about-aurorasaurus","category-hands-on-activities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}