VR Spaceship – A Fun VR Space-Themed Game For Those Who Enjoy Traveling Through the Cosmos
VR Spaceship is a fun VR space-themed game for those who enjoy traveling through the cosmos. While the experience is not as deep as some other VR experiences, it will entertain those with a curiosity about industrial surroundings.
Unlike games such as Artemis and Star Trek: Bridge Crew, this game allows players to walk around the ship. It also has a more detailed model of the ISS.
The Story
For a long time, virtual reality (VR) research and development was funded by the federal government, particularly the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. This gave the nascent technology a certain legitimacy and led to strong connections between academic, military, and commercial work in VR. It also resulted in a wide variety of products that are now part of the VR ecosystem.
Among the best is Apollo 11 VR, a documentary that lets you experience the historic 1969 landing from both outside and inside the command VR Spaceship module. The experience is immersive, and while it doesn’t have the interactivity of other space games, it’s still a great way to get a feel for what it was like to be an astronaut on one of the most important missions in human history.
Another fascinating VR experience is Space Explorers, which has been filmed aboard the International Space Station over the course of two years. The first three episodes are available now, and the fourth is scheduled to come out in 2022. Each half-an-hour episode focuses on a different aspect of life on the ISS, from how the astronauts keep fit to how they use the space toilet.
Lone Echo, released in 2017, is a sci-fi game that lets you explore the reconstructed space station in zero gravity. It requires extensive research on the part of the developers, but they were able to make it work thanks to the vast amount of information that NASA posts on publicly accessible websites. The gameplay is intuitive and uses a simple method of locomotion: you move by looking at pink “way points” that guide you through weightless spaces.
The Gameplay
There are many space-related VR games that offer players the chance to explore the cosmos from a variety of viewpoints. Some of these are full-fledged video games, allowing players to take in the sights and sounds of the solar system while also engaging in exciting, mission-critical tasks. Others are more like simulators, providing a more secluded and educational experience that still allows the player to feel as though they’re aboard the ISS or flying a fighter jet.
Some of the best VR space games focus on a specific aspect of space exploration while others offer an all-around experience that can’t be found anywhere else. SpaceCRAFT, for example, offers a front-row seat to the cockpit during SLS pre-launch activities while other experiences, such as those offered by Sketchfab, allow users to walk around Jezero crater on Mars or the ice mountains of Pluto.
While these are all great games, there is one particular experience that stands out above them all. Mission: ISS is an Emmy-nominated experience that lets users board the ISS and learn about life in zero gravity by watching archival videos of real astronauts and even taking a virtual spacewalk. This is a perfect experience for those who are interested in learning about space while enjoying the magic of VR. Unlike most other games, this application has no in-app purchases or pay-to-win features which makes it ideal for newcomers to virtual reality.
The Controls
Many people would love to escape Earth’s gravitational pull, but that’s generally only possible for a select few based on their skill sets, celebrity status or bank balances. But thanks to virtual reality headsets, anyone can now explore the stars in a way that was previously impossible.
The best space games for VR offer a mix of challenging gameplay, awe-inspiring visuals and a feeling that you’re really traversing the cosmos. Some of the most popular ones let you board the International Space Station or even bend planets to your will.
Other VR games are geared more towards arcade-style space action, with players piloting a ship through zero-gravity platforms and shooting alien spaceships. For instance, the free-to-play game VR Spaceship Battle puts you in a starship with the left controller firing guns and the right controlling missiles.
For a more realistic experience, try the free-to-play title Mission: ISS. It doesn’t let you roam around the entire spacecraft, but it does give you a very detailed bridge environment with all its buttons, switches, and even the smell of ketchup wafting up to you from a can. This gives you an idea of how it’s like to actually work on the ISS and the attention to detail the developers put in is impressive. They even include a few very human moments, such as one crew member’s sadness at the imminent departure of comrades.
The Audio
Creating VR audio is a complex process that requires both technical expertise and creative finesse. Unlike traditional game audio, which typically involves stereo playback and mixing, VR audio must be captured from a multitude of perspectives in order to accurately mirror the virtual environment. In addition, spatial VR Motorcycle effects must be applied to ensure that sound sources appear to come from the actual location in which they are placed.
In a recent study, Nordahl (2005) asked participants to wear a HMD, headphones and sandals equipped with pressure sensors and then walk through a 3D-reconstruction of the Prague Technical Museum either unimodally or bimodally (step sounds reproduced via the headset). The result was that presence ratings based on the Witmer and Singer (1998) visual and auditory aspects scale were significantly higher for the audio-visual condition. Additionally, the IPQ subscale of involvement was also significantly higher for the audio-visual condition.
NASA recently released a free VR experience called Mission: ISS, which takes users inside the Orion spacecraft for a front-row view of the SLS rocket preparations. While this VR experience is not fully immersive, it gives an idea of what it will be like to actually board the ISS.