Virtual Reality

Oculus Rift can now take you to the International Space Station

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Mission: ISS is a virtual trip to the International Space Station, free for Oculus Rift and Touch
Mission: ISS is a virtual trip to the International Space Station, free for Oculus Rift and Touch
Screenshot from Mission: ISS

Oculus has partnered with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency to create an educational simulation of what it's like to be aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Mission: ISS allows you to virtually conduct spacewalks and perform essential space station tasks like docking cargo.

We tried the interactive experience for ourselves, and it does seems to be a realistic interpretation of being in the ISS (not that we can confirm this), complete with the kind of zero-gravity movement that can turn your stomach. You can view earth from space, learn the history of ISS and listen to real-life astronauts tell their stories in 360° video. Oculus is piloting a limited beta program to bring the app to US high school students.

Screenshot from Mission: ISS

The launch of Mission: ISS coincides with Oculus' announcement that a Rift headset will be used by CNES (the French Space Agency) aboard the ISS to research the effects of zero-gravity on human spatial awareness and balance.

Learn more about Mission: ISS in the promo video below. The app is free for Oculus Rift; it is available on the Oculus Store and requires Oculus Touch controllers.

Source: Oculus

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1 comment
CarlUsick
I tried this yesterday and it is really detailed and sharp. Moving around is slightly nausea inducing, as I'm sure the real thing is. You can use hand holds to move yourself around, which is a lot better in terms of queasiness, but my only complaint is that you can't spin yourself end of end using the handholds. That would be more like outer space. There may not be an up or down in space, but everything on the station is orientated one way or the other.