Opaque Media Group, a Melbourne-based VR studio, recently announced Earthlight, an upcoming first-person space simulator that places you in the flight suit of a current day astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
If Earthlight’s 360-degree teaser trailer is any indicator, the game is going for a stark realism that aims to catch you up in the mystique of the oft discussed ‘overview effect‘, a marked cognitive shift that astronauts experience when they see the Earth from space for the first time. Along with the stunning life-like scenery, the studio is calling it the “most realistic depiction of the International Space Station used in a consumer-oriented VR application to-date.”
While Earthlight hopes to impress with its high level of realism, Opaque isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to the nitty gritty of working aboard a low orbit science vessel like the ISS. Although the team is working with cognitive psychologists and researchers in a variety of STEM fields “to create a pleasant user experience despite the complexity of the VR design,” Earthlight is taking real-world microgravity physics into account as daily tasks like undoing a simple screw become complex physics puzzles.
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Earthlight is targeting the big three consumer-grade VR headsets; the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Playstation VR with the intention of supporting their respective hand controllers (Oculus Touch, SteamVR Controllers and PlayStation Move). Gamepads with dual analogue inputs will also be supported.
“Earthlight is not just a game set in space, it is about giving the players an experience of what it’s like to be an astronaut.” Says Norman Wang, the Project Lead on Earthlight. “And to make sure that we create an authentic experience, we will be developing Earthlight in collaboration with NASA, with astronauts, and with the people who train and support them.”
“Visiting the International Space Station, floating freely in space, is a dream of many but a reality experienced by only a few,” said Professor Christopher Fluke, Coordinator of the Swinburne University-based Virtual Reality Theatre at the Centre of Astrophysics and Supercomputing during a pre-release demonstration of Earthlight. “Earthlight is a genuinely engaging experience. I am excited by the potential for interactive virtual experiences to play a greater role in bringing dreams of space exploration to life.”
Although we don’t expect Earthlight to stay 100 percent true to the astronaut’s grueling regime of system checks, 6 hour-long spacewalks, and constant isometric exercises to combat the inevitable muscle atrophy associated with microgravity environments, the implications of being able to step aboard a realistic recreation of one of the least populated science stations in the universe—only seeing a little over 200 people in it’s 17 year existence—is pretty incredible to say the least. We’re looking forward to getting our hands on a copy of the game when it’s publicly released in Q1 2016, which will come to SteamVR, PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift.
The HTC Vive-based version Earthlight will be available at the Opaque Media Group booth (#3324) at PAX Australia 2015. You can sign up for updates on Earthlight’s website.
