Mars Data Visualization (Collaborative)


Paul Molnar, March 2022

Program Setup:

  • Start up PaperSpace and click the link below while inside of your PaperSpace machine.

  • Mars Data Visualization (Collaborative)

  • This will bring you to a Google Drive folder where you should click "Download All" in the upper right corner (if you aren't signed into Google Drive) or right click the folder path and select "download" (if your are signed in)

  • Once downloaded, extract the folder to the Desktop on your PaperSpace machine

  • Connect your headset to the machine through virtual desktop and start Steam VR

  • Run the program titled "Steam Mars Visualization.exe" once your Steam VR has loaded in

    • If it gives you a warning about not knowing the safety of the program click "more info" and then "run anyway" to force the machine to run the program

  • You should now be placed inside of a Scene depicting some locations on Mars


In Game Controls:

  • You should be able to look around freely (if it is laggy in the beginning let it load for a moment and it should improve)

  • The left joystick can be used to move around, with forward being the direction you are facing

    • There may be some rumbling/vibration in your controllers in the beginning which should go away after a bit

  • Pointing the right joystick left or right will rotate you sharply in the given direction

  • ***NOTE***: If you are prone to motion sickness I do not recommend moving off of the black bridge (each little bump is like going up a stair)

  • There is currently no support for teleporting or flying, there is just walking


Environment and Program Info:

  • The left side of the bridge is Olympus Mons, the highest point on Mars, and to the left is a portion of Hellas Crater, the lowest point on Mars

  • Olympus Mons is 30,000 meters tall so you are not human sized inside the environment. Instead you are thousands of meters tall

  • Some of the craters are particularly steep. If it doesn't look like you can get out of a crater using a sequence of one by one stair moves, I do not suggest entering the crater at all

    • If you do happen to fall into a crater (or if you happen to fall off of the terrain) you will have to exit the program and restart it to go back to the start


Collaboration:

  • This program is collaborative!

  • If multiple people are running it at the same time you should be able to see each other in game

  • This is due to Photon Pun 2

    • If you are curious about how it works go check out this page: Photon Pun 2