Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/711516
j u ly . a u g u s t 2 0 1 6 c g w 2 7 Reyes started on this journey in 2014 aer reading a technical paper by some grad students from MIT's Aero/Astro Lab. They were writing a report on the Mars One initia- tive – a private, one-way mission to Mars to establish a permanent human settlement – challenging a number of proposals of that mission. "I spoke to them, and they provided some scientific papers on habitation, crew health, space suits, and aer I read through them, I had a clearer idea of where we stood and where the technology stood on an actu- al mission to Mars," says Reyes. Aer more discussions, Reyes decided he wanted to create a VR experience based on the Mars research. It would take close to two years to forge an agreement with NASA whereby both Fusion and NASA would share their work. "We signed a Space Act Agreement with them," says Reyes. "They agreed to share additional research with us so we could get this [experience] right." Similarly, Fusion will provide its data to NASA for use in its virtual-reality lab, for instance, where astronauts are trained to operate, maintain, and fix systems. "We went to the Johnson Space Center and got to drive the latest rover, talk to the scientists, see the new space suit proto- types, and visit the crew health [experts] to talk about the psychological impact of living on Mars, and then started to build this out," says Reyes. "I have always been a giant space fan. This was a dream come true." R E S E A R C H A N D D E V E L O P M E N T The goal of Mars 2030 – named for the ex- pected time frame of placing man on Mars – is to gain an understanding of why some people want to go to Mars and the impli- cations of such a mission. "To identify with [Mars One], we are currently on a mission to Mars ourselves," says Reyes. "Through our downloadable VR experience, everyone will have a chance to go to Mars." Reyes knew from the start that the VR project would be complex, and thus brought several others on board as contractors to assist the small team at Fusion. Currently, the digital crew con- sists of approximately 20 or so individuals whose roles span everything from technical development to generating actual design elements for the experience. Authenticity for the project is paramount – aer all, this is not a video game, Reyes points out. "It feels as if we are virtually rebuilding a mission to Mars. We have the highest consideration of what is actually being considered in such a mission, and we want to get all that information inside of our VR experience and have it as accurate as possible," he says. "That is why we have been trying to push so hard on the graphic capabilities of VR, to be able to translate the research in not only a technical way, but visually as well." One person who joined the project is Dave Flamburis, lead CG artist and creative consultant, who brings a host of real-time experience from working on Triple-A games. "Julian asked me where I would like to take this and I said, 'I don't know, but I am in," he recalls. Exactly how does one go about creating a realistic version of an actual planet? Flam- buris was given a primitive prototype with some height map-based terrain – not much in the way of a detailed landscape, he adds. "We decided to figure out what it would be like standing there, and started by breaking down the environment into its essential pieces," says Flamburis. Flamburis and Reyes devised a sub- stantial list of questions for the scientists at NASA. "They answered all my technical questions, and then I started asking a lot of common questions, like if I was on Mars and bent down and dusted off the red A GROUP OF GAME DEVELOPERS AND CG EXPERTS, UNDER THE MONIKER FUSION, ARE CREATING THE VR EXPERIENCE MARS 2030, WHICH ENABLES USERS TO GET AN ACCURATE FEEL FOR WHAT IT IS LIKE LIVING ON MARS. PICTURED HERE IS THE HABITAT.