Weekend experiments updates - added a new “moon slots” in the planet detail view. While grabbing floating, orbiting moons is fun, it becomes challenging for planets with many moons that are far beyond comfortable reach and moving quickly. This update makes it much easier to access, grab, and closely observe individual moons, including Titan and Ganymede. Additionally, with the help of Claude, I was able to improve the shader so that planetary surface normals respond more accurately to the Sun’s position. Features like Olympus Mons on Mars now show more accurate depth and contrast based on lighting, making the surface feel more dynamic and readable. Earth also reveals night lights in shadowed regions depending on the Sun’s position. Cosmic XR: cosmicxr.brdystudios.com/ #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #XR #AR #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #Astrophysics #JWST #SpaceX #STEMLearning #EdTech #AWE #GenAI #ChatGPT #Astronomy #JamesWebb #Hubble #MadeWithUnity #Unity3D #SpaceExploration #우주 #교육 #공간컴퓨팅 #혼합현실 #증강현실 #가상현실 #InteractionDesign #宇宙 #天文学 #VR #空間コンピューティング #JPL #没入体験 #宇宙科学

Spent some time this weekend exploring an annotation system for newly added planetary POIs in CosmicXR. Annotation is a fundamental layer of data visualization, but in spatial environments, it becomes significantly more complex. Billboarding keeps labels readable by always facing the user, but the connection between the label and its anchor point becomes tricky, especially as vertical viewing angles change. The line can easily overlap with the text and become visually noisy depending on direction and depth. One approach that worked well was subtly fading the connection area between the line and the label, helping maintain clarity across a wide range of angles. Along the way, learned a lot about craters and notable regions on Mercury and other planets. The new POI annotations are now live in the latest update. Cosmic XR: cosmicxr.brdystudios.com/ Trailer: youtu.be/L6dKh9ENsaY Cosmic XR has won “Education Experience of the Year” at The Polys 6th Annual Immersive Awards. x.com/cre8ivepark/status/203… #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #QuestPro #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #XR #AR #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #PassionProject #nationalspaceday #Astrophysics #JWST #SpaceX #STEMLearning #EdTech #AWE #GenAI #ChatGPT #Astronomy #SpaceScience #JamesWebb #Hubble #MadeWithUnity #Unity3D #SpaceExploration #우주 #교육 #공간컴퓨팅 #혼합현실 #증강현실 #가상현실 #InteractionDesign Disclaimer: Cosmic XR was designed and developed entirely in my personal time using personal resources as a passion project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by my employer.

[Update] Now Milky Way view features an overlaid map (by NASA/JPL-Caltech) showing distances from our Solar System and labeling key galactic regions. You can clearly see that the Milky Way's spiral structure is dominated by just two major arms—Scutum-Centaurus and Perseus—extending from the ends of the central galactic bar. Also added direct touch rotation, allowing for a more intuitive interaction—like spinning a record turntable—to explore galactic details. The positions of nebulae have been updated for accuracy, and to manage dense annotations, implemented dynamic line lengths and angular scaling for interactable labels. Hope this update makes exploration more enjoyable! meta.com/experiences/9293405… #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #QuestPro #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #XR #AR #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #PassionProject #nationalspaceday #Astrophysics #JWST #SpaceX #STEMLearning #EdTech #AWE #GenAI #ChatGPT #Astronomy #SpaceScience #JamesWebb #Hubble #MadeWithUnity #Unity3D #SpaceExploration #우주 #교육 #공간컴퓨팅 #혼합현실 #증강현실 #가상현실

Spent some time this weekend adding a new Detail View to the Milky Way in Cosmic XR. It now features an overlaid map (based on NASA/JPL-Caltech data) showing distances from our Solar System and labeling key galactic regions. You can clearly see that the Milky Way's spiral structure is dominated by just two major arms—Scutum-Centaurus and Perseus—extending from the ends of the central galactic bar. Also added direct touch rotation, allowing for a more intuitive interaction—like spinning a record turntable—to explore galactic details. The positions of nebulae have been updated for accuracy, and to manage dense annotations, I implemented dynamic line lengths and angular scaling for interactable labels. Hope this update makes cosmic exploration more immersive and enjoyable! meta.com/experiences/9293405… The more I dive into the details, the more humbled I feel, awed by the miracle of our existence on this tiny pale blue dot. Disclaimer: Cosmic XR was designed and developed entirely in my personal time using personal resources as a passion project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by my employer. #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #QuestPro #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #XR #AR #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #PassionProject #nationalspaceday #Astrophysics #JWST #SpaceX #STEMLearning #EdTech #AWE #GenAI #ChatGPT #Astronomy #SpaceScience #JamesWebb #Hubble #MadeWithUnity #Unity3D #SpaceExploration #우주 #교육 #공간컴퓨팅 #혼합현실 #증강현실 #가상현실

Excited to share that Cosmic XR now supports 11 global languages: German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese, in addition to English. With over 1,000 active users, an average session time of 18 minutes, and a 4.9-star rating, it’s inspiring to see how the experience is resonating around the world. Hope this localization helps spark curiosity in younger audiences and inspires the next generation of explorers, scientists, and engineers. meta.com/experiences/cosmic-… *This localization was made possible with the help of machine translation, so there may be some unnatural phrases. #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #QuestPro #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #XR #AR #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #PassionProject #nationalspaceday #Astrophysics #JWST #SpaceX #STEMLearning #EdTech #AWE #GenAI #ChatGPT #Astronomy #SpaceScience #JamesWebb #Hubble #SpaceExploration #공간컴퓨팅 #혼합현실 #증강현실 #가상현실

Welcome to Cosmic XR — your personal gateway to space and the universe, right in your room. With passthrough Mixed Reality enabled, your real-world space becomes the stage for an epic cosmic journey. Watch your surroundings transform into a living, interactive map of space and the universe. Reach out with your hands to touch, rotate, and scale beautifully detailed planets. Cradle Earth, spin Saturn’s rings, or feel the storms swirl across Jupiter. Every celestial object responds naturally to your gestures with lifelike motion and scale. Whether you're a lifelong stargazer or simply curious about space and the universe, Cosmic XR brings the cosmos into your own environment — to observe, interact, and explore. The universe is no longer out there. It’s right here — in your hands. meta.com/experiences/cosmic-… #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #QuestPro #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #PassionProject #Astrophysics #JWST #STEMLearning #EdTech #Astronomy #SpaceScience #JamesWebb #Hubble #SpaceExploration

Sharing a small personal project I’ve been slowly building over the past couple of years, mostly on weekends and in spare moments: Cosmic XR, a mixed reality experience that brings space and the universe into your own room. This project began from my deep love for space, and the desire to let people not just observe, but reach out and interact with planets, moons, and other celestial wonders — to touch, rotate, and scale them with their hands, as if they were right in front of them. For those familiar with HoloLens, many parts of this app are inspired by the open-source Galaxy Explorer project, which played a key role in building many parts of the experience. I’m grateful to build on that foundation. As a single-person project, there’s still much to improve — technically, visually, and content-wise. But I wanted to share it now, in hopes that it brings a sense of curiosity and wonder to anyone who tries it. If you're into space and immersive experiences, I’d love for you to give it a try — you can explore it without purchasing through the “Try Before You Buy” feature on Meta Quest Store: meta.com/experiences/cosmic-… I hope this experience reminds us of how small we are — and how precious each moment is, a fleeting blink in the vast timeline of the universe. Disclaimer: Cosmic XR was designed and developed entirely in my personal time using personal resources as a passion project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by my employer. #CosmicXR #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VR #MetaQuest #Cosmos #Space #NASA #galaxy #milkyway #Quest3 #Quest3S #Quest2 #QuestPro #HandTracking #SpatialComputing #SpatialInteraction #SpaceApp #STEM #XRforEducation #PassionProject #Astrophysics #JWST #STEMLearning #EdTech #Astronomy #SpaceScience #JamesWebb #Hubble #SpaceExploration

Now you can watch session videos from Microsoft MR Dev Days 2022 on YouTube! #HoloLens #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VirtualReality #MRTK #Unity #SpatialInteraction #OpenXR youtube.com/playlist?list=PL…

seeing this go from a product canvas to product launch to achieving major customer adoption has been a real highlight for me over the last 9 months #tech #spatial #spatialinteraction #techtrends #ultraleap #innovation #TechNews #ultraleap

We have released #MRTK 2.5.0! #HoloLens #HoloLens2 #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VirtualReality #Unity #SpatialInteraction #AR #XR #MRTK #madewithunity

#Design story on Medium: link.medium.com/nuVv0htDD8 #HoloLens #HoloLens2 #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VirtualReality #Unity #SpatialInteraction #AR #XR #MRTK #madewithunity

Weekend experiments: elastic menu using #MRTK's elastic systems(bit.ly/2Dwl5je) contributed by Finn Sinclair (zee2.github.io/) aka.ms/MRTK #HoloLens2 #MixedReality #AugmentedReality #VirtualReality #Unity #SpatialInteraction #AR #VR #XR #uxdesign #UX

Check out updated design guideline for the #HandMenu which is available in #MRTK 2.4.0! docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win… #HoloLens #HoloLens2 #AugmentedReality #VirtualReality #MixedReality #Unity #XR #SpatialInteraction #MadeWithUnity #AR #VR #uxdesign #uxresearch

Today(5/21), 2:30pm PST - Join my session at #MixedReality DevDays, learn about #MRTK's #SpatialInteraction #UX Building Blocks! bit.ly/2ziBcyX Check out great digital sessions. FREE bit.ly/2LPZdjD #HoloLens2 #Unity #AugmentedReality #VirtualReality #MRDevDays

#Urbanfollowfriday continues! Digital Geography Lab @digigeolab Follow them for: #interdisciplinarity #dataanalysis #spatialinteraction and to learn, for example, how mobile phone data can be used to help urban planning 📱🌆🚶‍♀️

We've always said hand tracking is fundamental to interaction in #VR. Nice to see the rest of the world getting on board 😆 #SpatialInteraction

Ultraleap technologies let you reach into the digital world and interact effortlessly, intuitively and in 3D. It’s called #spatialinteraction – and it will transform everything. ultraleap.com

New article by @somwrita_sarkar @FrankWu2316 @trnsprtst on Measuring #polycentricity via #network flows, #SpatialInteraction, and percolation ow.ly/JHlf30ojrWP

Fab new edition of #ASAP, the last involving #Stillers, appropriately a special issue on #spatialinteraction modelling plus book reviews by @F_Darlington & @djexeter link.springer.com/journal/12…

Excellent new issue of @AustPopulStud from @elinched & @AppliedDemog with a great guide to #SpatialInteraction from @adam_dennett australianpopulationstudies.…