This AR lunar model takes you as close to the moon as you can get (without a spaceship)
The moon may be 238,900 miles away from Earth, but with a new lunar model and accompanying AR app, it might as well be in the palm of your hand.
AstroReality, a Bay Area-based startup whose co-founder is an astro-photographer, is creating hand-painted, 3D-printed moon models to bring the moon's surface down to Earth.
The Lunar Pro is a softball-sized, one-pound orb that recreates the moon and all its craters, edges, and other topography based on NASA's lunar orbiter data. It's made at a resolution of 4,000 DPI, which is incredibly precise. It's then molded with a poly resin material that is hand-painted to mimic what the moon looks like. It comes shockingly close.
With a free AR app from your phone, you can hone in on famous landmarks, like the Apollo landing site or the Mare Marginis plain, dead volcanoes, craters, seas, and lava flows. As you spin the moon on its stand, more facts, photos, and other locations pop up on the app.
"The moon comes to life," AstroReality head of marketing and lead producer Joanne Dai said while demonstrating how the model and app work.
The app tracks the model in real-time, similar to how Snapchat's filters track your face so you can vomit rainbows and wear a flower crown. There are 900 landmarks scattered throughout the model, complete with facts and trivia.
Dai wants space enthusiasts and home astronomers who are accustomed to looking at the moon through a telescope to use the model to get even closer to the moon's surface. She also wants the model to be used as an educational tool — especially as more features come to the app, like simulated missions.
The online crowdfunding campaigns kicks off Tuesday (that link will go live then) with packages for the Lunar Pro starting at $179 for early backers. A mini lunar model and a full outer space collection are also available as perks. The 3D model is expected to be delivered by the end of November -- just in time for the holidays for any moon-obsessed people you know. First, the startup is aiming to raise $50,000 to produce the moon models.
Shoot for the moon.
Topics Augmented Reality Virtual Reality
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
