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German Scientists Create Augmented Reality Scope
porkchop_d_clown writes "New Scientist is reporting that German engineers have developed a scope that combines imaging and planitarium software with a telescope to overlay what you see in the scope with stored images and information about the object being viewed." From the article: "Bernie Volz, president of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston, Massachusetts, US, says an augmented reality telescope could serve as a useful educational tool. At star parties, bright objects such as the Moon, Mars and Saturn elicit 'the wow factor' from novices, he says. 'But when they look at galaxies or planetary nebulae or something that is just a fuzzy white spot in the sky, they don't have that kind of reaction.'"
When I was a kid, I got an astronomy kit for Christmas; it included a "finder" and several dozen sheets of clear plastic with stars, constellations, and names written in glow-in-the-dark ink on it. The idea was that once you knew which stars were supposed to be in the sky, you'd insert the correct overlay for that season and hour, and go out, find the guide stars, and then you'd have a ball. Don't get me wrong, it was entertaining as well as educational, but it was also a pain in the ass. We used it the next several times we went out to the country, but once we had seen most of the visible sky, it was done. I guess the point is, this kind of idea has been around awhile, but I'm really glad someone finally used technology to make it more informative for less of a hassle.
I'd worry that this could get to the point where the displayed synthetic image through the scope actually overshadowed the visible light you were trying to see. Using a backyard scope can be pretty disappointing to people who are used to stunning shots from space probes and Hubble. A few of the brighter nebulae and globular and open clusters are pretty, as well as the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, but aside from that you have to really get into it to enjoy it. You have to get to the point where you get satisfaction just from finding and seeing an object, rather than being able to appreciate its beauty.
With AR technology they could superimpose a synthetic image of, say, the Andromeda galaxy (which is enormous but so faint as to be almost invisible in a backyard scope). It would look just like the pictures you see. You could also have a "digital zoom" which would let you see fine detail in some object, such as the Horsehead nebula which is very pretty but extremely small in a backyard scope.
The problem is that once you do this you are no longer doing astronomy but just looking at pictures, which you could do in more comfort inside at your computer than outside, bent over in a cramped position as you peer into a telescope eyepiece. It seems like it defeats the purpose of astronomy and will prevent beginners from sticking with it long enough to get into other aspects of the hobby.
That's exactly what I was thinking of, thanks for the direct link.
At the moment the technology seems overly expensive and cumbersome. I can imagine a time when you buy the glasses at a cheap discount, and then some company sells you little chips for specialized tasks: traveling around a city, working on certain types of hardware, and so on. Ideally you'd have some sort of wireless connection as well, updating the software with the latest information.
I suppose you could even have ad-supported glasses, with virtual signs plastered on buildings. Not that I'd want to drive with the things on, but you could give them away to tourists if they end up being cheap enough.
by at least an order of magnitude.
A really nice Dobsonian reflector can be bought for $500-$1000 dollars; but anything with tracking motors and a computerized controller will cost at least twice that. Once you add in a specially cooled CCD sensor, you can double it again. Now add the cost of the display computer.
There are people who happily drop $15 grand on a scope and then build a special trailer to haul it in.
Clear, Dark Skies