GSOC 2016 - Android Development Projects

[Rishabh Mishra]

Hi,

I am Rishabh Mishra 4th year student at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani India, I have worked on android for past one and a half year (GITHUB) but have mostly worked for private projects of startups (so not much to show on open source i am afraid :P).

I am quiet interested in android applications (Wikipedia Editor and Physics Simulator), but what took my iterest most was the planetarium application, i have looked into it and i couldn't find any similar applications on the web. If the application requires an accurate data of every galaxy satellite and voyages with real time rendering of all celestial bodies, i believe this is too much to ask from a mobile device to handle, on the other hand if it is a static view something like a SkyMap application, we should be able to achieve it relatively easily. i looked into places and found some engine that render the celestial bodies real time (Space Engine), but this is a game and the integrity of the information provided is questionable to say the least. To actually generate a perfect replica of the universe like the SkyMap can me done if we just use them for static material like stars, satellites, planets, constellations, etc. rather than cramping it in a single view of a planetarium. Something similar to Star Chart or Star Walk is achievable in the time given rather than totally generating the universe. We can also create something like the NASA application, but i guess it defeats the whole idea of planetarium. Is there some place else i should look for better understanding of the project. Please help me understand the approach better.

Thank You.

[neha dhanwani]

Hi Rishabh 

 

If the application requires an accurate data of every galaxy satellite and voyages with real time rendering of all celestial bodies, i believe this is too much to ask from a mobile device to handle, on the other hand if it is a static view something like a SkyMap application, we should be able to achieve it relatively easily. i looked into places and found some engine that render the celestial bodies real time (Space Engine), but this is a game and the integrity of the information provided is questionable to say the least.

The application is a digital experience of a Planetarium so definitely it is not going to be a replica (or even close) of the Universe. It's just a place where you can learn more about the Universe. To clarify, it is not a requirement to see the current location of these celestial bodies from the application. 

 

To actually generate a perfect replica of the universe like the SkyMap can me done if we just use them for static material like stars, satellites, planets, constellations, etc. rather than cramping it in a single view of a planetarium. Something similar to Star Chart or Star Walk is achievable in the time given rather than totally generating the universe. We can also create something like the NASA application, but i guess it defeats the whole idea of planetarium. Is there some place else i should look for better understanding of the project. Please help me understand the approach better.

 

What is expected is to create a playful experience which is interactive and provides accurate information about celestial bodies (planets, stars, constellations, etc). We definitely don't want a one pager listing everything, the interface has to be engaging. The information of course has to be static, bundled with the application and can consist of facts, their general location if available, naturally occurring phenomena, history, etc. 

[Rishabh Mishra]

Thanks for the reply neha.

I get that it has to be interactive and indulging at the same time has to be accurate to keep it relevant. What i meant there was if we keep everything in one screen and make it all accessible through infinite zoom it would lead to long zoom times and the required information won't be easily accessible.So, what i was thinking of was to break it into different parts, to show constellations, planets, stars, etc. in different screens so there are not a lot of thing crammed into a small mobile screen. This is usually adopted by all the existin applications out there.

I have not worked with real time rendering, do we need to render the celestial bodies on real time zoom, or just static images ( which of course has to be beautiful to keep the user involved ). And secondly will it use gyroscopes and location to map the universe in real sky ( it will auto move to the location where you are pointing your device in the sky ) or will it be a simple swipe across

[Rishabh Mishra]

Sorry, misclick lead to posting.

Or will it use swipe to move across the sky. What all other features are needed to achieve it. Shall i read something up on rendering and smooth motion across screen, please suggest some material.

Thank You

On Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 11:13:45 PM UTC+5:30, neha dhanwani wrote:

[neha dhanwani]

So, what i was thinking of was to break it into different parts, to show constellations, planets, stars, etc. in different screens so there are not a lot of thing crammed into a small mobile screen. This is usually adopted by all the existin applications out there.

It seems a sensible approach to me. However, I would prefer the zoom out-in approach for atleast the Solar System.There are a lot of high end smartphones with a lot of memory and zooming out/in smoothly within specific levels is completely 

 

> And secondly will it use gyroscopes and location to map the universe in real sky 

> ( it will auto move to the location where you are pointing your device in the sky ) or will it be a simple swipe across

As I said in the previous reply, it would not move to the location where the device is pointing. This is not a requirement. However, you may use gyroscope for user inputs and move / scroll through the imagery. 

Neha

[neha dhanwani]

 

Or will it use swipe to move across the sky. What all other features are needed to achieve it. Shall i read something up on rendering and smooth motion across screen, please suggest some material.

You can read more about OpenGL rendering, imaging libraries (Open CV). However, to start with you may want to play with a high resolution image and scroll view to try the zoom in/out approach.

[Rishabh Mishra]

Hi,

Sorry i was caught up in submissions, so it took a while to reply.

I have been working on OpenGL ES and have achieved some success. Took a while to grab the basics, but i am content with my result.

I was thinking about all the ways we can make the application interactive and playing around with shadows i realized they help in making the scene pretty a lot. Continuining to what i suggested earlier, to keep different views for constellations, galaxies, planets, solar system ,etc. i think it would look much better if we can keep the point of view on the earth. It would really enhance the experience and keep the user involved, plus it would give us some room on textures and renders as the lights would keep it simple and pretty at the same time. I think it might help us a lot.Any thoughts ? 

PFA: My progress till now.

Thanks.