Homework 4

Mark Chen, mchen200

CS 428 - Homework 4

Using the Star Tracker Lite application (free version of Star Tracker) allows users to see stars, and constellations drawn on their phones. To use the Star Tracker application, users are allowed to use their fingers to move around the screen to see other stars or by pointing their camera towards a direction. The application uses the phone’s location services to be able to track where the user is compared to the stars and constellations in space. When using the application to find Saturn, I was able to see the constellation Sagittarius, Galaxy M8, dwarf planet Pluto, and some other stars that I never knew existed. When using the application on the Moon, I was able to see what moon phase it is (dark side of the moon), and that it is overlapped with the constellation Taurus. I think this is a very fun application for users interested in astronomy, and amplifies the experience of lying on the grass on a night with clear skies, “looking at the stars” by telling you what you’re looking. This application also allows people who live in the city or people who live in areas with polluted air to see the stars, since cities like Las Vegas are brightly lit at night.

One way how we can amplify seeing space is to see what kind of satellites there are. Some information that would be obtained is which country sent the satellites, what year it was created, if there were astronauts, who were the astronauts, what purpose does the satellite function for, and how long it has been in space. It would be cool, but some countries would probably keep some information private.

Tracking stars and constellations is a great way of implementing augmented reality to the skies of daily life. I think another way augmented reality could be implemented in AR glasses if they could look at a plane, and get information about it. Some information could include to and from destinations, flight number, plane company, plane model, number of passengers. Other information could include who the pilot is, how fast the plane is going, how high up in the air the airplane is.

Another way to implement augmented reality via the sky would be weather and atmosphere. For example, you could be looking at a cloud, and the AR glasses could tell you how dense it is in terms of if you can see through the cloud or not. The AR glasses could also tell you what kind of cloud it is, and chances of precipitation. Not only could the AR glasses be able to give you information on clouds, but the atmosphere as well. This could tell you the humidity, or the amount of pollution in the air, comparing how much pollution there is in the air to somewhere clean. An example would be comparing the air of any plain in Illinois to the air of a city in China. The air is very polluted in China, that citizens in China usually wear facemasks, so they don’t breathe in the bad air. Air pollution is a problem and is damaging to your lungs, so it would be necessary to get information on how polluted the air you are breathing in is. The AR glasses would tell you how the air is and determine if it is safe to breathe or not.