Abstract: Virtual Reality (VR) objects give students of planetary science an exciting and interactive way to “hold a planet in their hands”. A Virtual Reality Object is a 3-dimensional representation of an object from 2D images presented sequentially in any order by a script. The object displays in any modern web browser that enables Javascript.
A person engaged with a VR object can manipulate it with any pointing device. The best is fingers! Turn a planet around or up and down to examine the entire surface. Zoom in for detail. We can add hotspots that link to other educational media like video.
We’ve done this for the Moon and other solar system bodies. Examples: https://www.astronomyinmotion.com/vr.html https://marsatyourfingertips.com/
A Virtual Reality object adds the tactile sense to video. This is a powerful way to enhance the learning experience and lets anyone “hold a planet in your hands”!
.jpg "Lonny W. Buinis photo")
