MSU Abrams Planetarium
Project Overview
Project Overview
Fully Immersive Educational Game for High School Students
Fully Immersive Educational Game for High School Students
Susan Bonner: Associate Professor: Serious Games Faculty
Dr. Amanda Cote: Associate Professor, Director Serious Games
Dr. Shannon Schmoll: Director the Planetarium
MSU Students
MSU Foundations of Serious Games Grad Course
MSU Serious Games Undergrad Course
High School Collaborators: Connected through the IGNITE program at MSU
Jeff Park - Waverly High School science teacher
Stephen Stauffer - Waverly High School science teacher
Waverly High School science students
Jared Taush
Grand Rapids Public Museum Old Streets Scavenger Hunt
Susan's Students
With Protege Games and KCAD and The EPIC Project
The Power of Poison Show Grand Rapids Public Museum -
Projections and Interactive Games
Read this Article from the Bell Museum
Abrams Planetarium Software is Digistar 7- $200,000 and there are 2 stations. Hardware and software.
We can provide square 4K format mp4 or png sequences that they would put into the software to be placed on the dome.
30 or 60 fps = Shannon is checking with John.
dome master likes frames, not videos that have been shifted from fps to fps. they work within their system better and will look better..
Images skew towards the edges.
Images will not be skewed in center.
The planetarium team can be given the video in regular format or as a spherical image png sequence or Mp4 preferred, not a .mov or large editor file.
the have astronomical objects already in the Digistar software that can be pulled up in real time, these can be assigned to a button push (ie: go from the earth to moon or pull up the periodic table of elements, or reveal the circulatory system of the human body, etc.)
can fly to objects such as black holes, Venus, Outside the galaxy to other galaxies
Can also go inside the human body
Can fly to the edge of the observable universe.
2 xbox controllers
30 lasers is what they have
30 - 40 flashlights - led.
(you can add gels on them for more colors)
white lights will ruin night vision and so you can give them red flashlights or regular flashlights that have a red balloon over them.
overlaying words on images and videos
for the spaceship image they made the image of the ship controls, then a transparent window and then you can see space behind it that is moiving as you need (this is masked.) We can mask anything.
they have had 15 different layers (slide shows) - layers that can move or be controlled on top of each other.
to add to a sphere: make your image 2-1 ratio wider than tall. 4K resolution 4096 x 4096, 2K is also ok but don't go lower res than 2K.
you could give people a rectangle to draw on, then they can project it onto a sphere.
you could give people a circle and project that to the dome.
Also there are a lot of 3d models in the Digistar software of rockets, mars rovers, satalites, international space station
audience can vote to go into different location - then they can do it on the spot.
Use your voice!
You will need to conduct the game like a gameshow host, this can be scripted.
The game should be published
don't play it on your computer in editor mode, it gets squished horizontally.
The Planetarium computer can run Version 5.3
Get the plug in from the Planetarium Student Staff
The planetarium ipad gets programmed with buttons such as flying from the earth to the moon
(you would build a written script first to determine your story arch)
we can plug in a laptop and show our program screen.
Bring an HDMI cable and adaptor (you can get this from DMat if you need on the 1st floor.)
You could use world wide telescope software and then put on a touch screen
There is one Touch Screen Computer
You can plug in your computer into a TV and bring controllers or mice or trackpads
There is one tv, if we need more we need to get them
VR - you can borrow the headsets - See Susan and or the Digital Resource Lab 4th Floor Main Library or DMat
Unity
Unreal Engine
Tabletopia: go Susan's Game Design Tabletopia guide
Adobe Animate
Blender
Adobe After Effects: plug in to the dome software
Stellarium: proprietary to the equipment used at the planetarium and not what Abrams uses
Digistar - what Abrams uses
flashlight
pen lights of different colors
joystick
x box controllers
telescope feature that can be controlled by the xbox controller
Shanon has an ipad that is programmed to the Digistar 7 system
Shannon can help us give them buttons to put onto the ipad so that it is programmed.
Just ask Shannon if they have a particular asset.
You can email her. schmolls@msu.edu
Come to the planetarium when there is not a show and then you can test your prototypes.
You should have a published file to test, such as on Itch.io or Tabletopia or a web app
Give the teachers instructions
Provide a user testing questionairre.
You can email the teachers directly but always copy either Amanda or Susan your MSU prof and have discussed this ahead of time if you are ready to test.
Provide links with tiny urls and qr codes for the fasted method of access
In Dome
Show the content
Answer Questions as an audience
Get rewards for correct answers
Could be click fed by audience vote like Think Fast Games
Could be directed by a host who would use their computer after audience votes - requires a host.
AR Scavenger Hunt
tablets, clipboards, prints
VR Pre Experience
Headset, Television to show others what people are experiencing, computer (Like the Whale VR in GRPM)
Touch Interactive Museum Screen
Large Touchscreen, projectors
Projected Images on a sphere
Multiple Projectors
Fun Funky Functions is an example from Miner Madness: Go to the Miner Madness site.
can use x box controller
connect four: script uses scripts: 2 player
alien invasion
dome invasion
Cora Brown works with the students on this.
Choose your own adventure
audience votes
Minecraft
grow in sign language
Shannon uses creative commons animations
she has all kinds of planets
We can use Game engines
The dome is in 4k resolution
(4096 x 4096)
360 cameras are a good way to gather media
the Library 4th floor has 360 cameras that can be hand held and walk through spaces for students and a very fancy one for faculty to check out that is a large tripod camera
Prof Jen Owen
Indigo Bunting
Shannon would like a bird feeding station that directs to the bird sanctuary on campus
Birds connecting to astronomy
Play Wingspan
surround 360 video of trees then people have to find the birds with the laser pointers.
Christy Taylor - Banding
content - trivia
Black Holes
Aurora
The farther away you look the farther back in time your are in the universe
infinity expanding into infinity
Haley's Comet is coming back again.
This upcoming year is the Centennial of Projection Planetariums
Spartan Young Astronomers - May 4th - Star Wars
June - Jupiter
July - Star Knowledge
August - Meteors and Asteroids
Understanding Educational Standards
We will be aligning the planetarium serious games with educational standards.
Sometimes it is good to begin with a standard and find a part of one that you can center your game idea and content on.
Find out how we integrated the National Science Standards into work from The EPIC Project.
EPIC Science
Young Spartans
High Schoolers
Tell us a game about the natural world
Either looking inwards or outwards