Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/863766
20 cgw j u ly . a u g u s t 2 0 1 7 as well as figuring out how the Canadarm (a remote-controlled mechanical arm that can move around the ISS) would operate. "The Earth asset is also quite complex. We had to develop a new approach to re-creating the surface of the Earth to keep the fidelity high, as VR has a tendency to expose texture details," says Allaki. The Earth surface is the main focus while outside the ISS, and it is being used at the Hyper Reality Lab for NASA's virtual ISS model. As a result, this imag- ery needed careful attention to ensure its accuracy, but also to confirm that the team was satisfied with the clarity of the surface while seen in VR. "We didn't want it to simply look like a texture excessively stretched over a sphere, so the material is quite complex to make it look as dynamic possible," Allaki explains. Also, the artists created an aurora effect that was challenging to solve. "Many proj- ects have created solutions for seeing au- roras from Earth or far from Earth, but there are rarely in-game examples of auroras from that middle ground as seen from the ISS," Allaki says. "Auroras seen from Earth are generally created as bands of light ani- mating above, but from the ISS, they have much more shape, height, and volume." The view in space was created through a rather labor-intensive process, as the artists sourced 96 k Earth satellite photos and then partitioned them into slices of 8k textures, which further are used in 4k sequences whereby the UV from the model of the Earth pans over it. The cloud maps are also similarly derived from satellite cloud maps, created using the cloud map plus an offset black "cloud map" to represent the shadows. The Earth textures are also, at parts, hand/ matte-painted where there were artifacts in the photographs and scanning errors. Meanwhile, the water in the NBL training pool model is created using a combination of depth maps, caustics, a lot of overdraw, and transparency. Allaki cautions that the water is a great case study in how envi- ronmental design in VR can dictate the intensity of performance overheads. "Don't do underwater VR without expecting large performance issues in rendering underwater scenes," he warns. NEW FRONTIERS As Scheurle points out, anytime you work with new technology, solutions are always needed. "A lot of people here are from the gaming world, so we are used to working with new and strange concepts," she says. "But when you work with VR, you have to be prepared to adapt and test. We test a lot." Deniz agrees, noting the group faced some challenges with the production pipeline: Because of the ever-changing and shiing nature of VR and supporting game engines, the artists found them- selves having to retool and rethink their development at certain points. "Performance is more of a factor in VR, so having to plan the deployment of assets and also design our content around factoring player agency meant that occlu- sion culling was a bit more difficult – predicting where/how/what a player looks at or interacts with in VR is already incredibly challenging, but building con- tent around that was a new obstacle we had to get our heads around," Deniz says. He adds that the group has gotten much better at dynamically adjusting the level of detail and also managing the player paths, as well as relying on more mature engine support and support from manufacturers such as Nvidia with its VRWorks. "Our main goal is to bring an experience to people in their own homes that is very unique and one that only very few humans have experienced," says Scheurle, noting that 556 people have been to space so far – out of the entire human race. "This is an amazing way to get people to experience something they would never get to do otherwise," she says of "Earthlight." In addition, there is the collaboration factor that may prove beneficial to future training of astronauts in VR and MR. "We are still trying to figure it out, and part of my role is to find out where the overlaps are. There will be things we need to build here specifically for NASA and their apps that are too complex or scientific, or even boring, for a game," says Scheurle. "The tasks might be generic and minute, but they have to be performed in a high-pres- sure environment, and that is what makes them so complicated." So while this group continues to use new technologies as they reach for the stars, they are likewise fulfilling the ultimate dream of so many children, and adults, by making virtual space travel readily available for the masses. And in the process, collaborating to develop tools to train astronauts in the future. Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of CGW. GETTING A FEEL FOR REDUCED GRAVITY IN THE NASA ARGOS.