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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.'"
Sounds a lot like Virtual Light, a book from William Gibson. More and more you'll see this sort of thing done, especially as technology shrinks down the size of these things. Imagine a pair of sunglasses that overlay details of the car engine you're looking at or map notes as you travel around town.
When I point it at the girl next door?
So what happens when you point it at Steve Jobs?
Augmented Reality Scope + Distorted Reality Field = ?????
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.
Leave it to the Germans to perfect beer goggles.
But a lot of amateurs are already just "looking at pictures". While my wife and I do things the "old fashioned way" with a Dobsonian scope, I know several astronomy club members who do more work with Photoshop than with a Nagler.
Personally, I'd be more annoyed at a star party where someone's flashing these bright images on a monitor - or worse, projecting images up on a wall or screen, burning out everyone's night vision.
Clear, Dark Skies
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
First, getting glass polished and coated to the degree needed for really sharp views is expensive. Then add on the true cost killer - a good mount.
It's amazingly hard to create a tripod that is so stable you can view things at 300x magnification without them bouncing around because someone 10' away is walking on the same concrete your scope is sitting on. When you look at all the different models a company like Meade or Celestron sells, note that they really only have one or two different kinds of scopes all the variation in price comes from the different tripods they use.
Clear, Dark Skies
http://www.celestron.com/skyscout/new/index.php
Celestron has been there and done it allready. This a great device if you have the means and a desire to learn about the heavens its highly recomended. And yes this is real its here and you can buy one instead of reading about it in slashdot and saying wouldnt that be cool.