NASA puts Augmented Reality on Mars

It might be a few years before Wikitude gets to Mars, but thanks to NASA, Augmented Reality technology is already there!

Generally speaking, in the Augmented Reality space, we’re confined to terrestrial endeavors. There are quite a few of us here at the Wikitude HQ that are eagerly awaiting an extraterrestrial experience, but until E.T. decides to join us and phone home, we’re happy to settle with NASA’s incredible mission to Mars, aka the Curiosity Rover.

Thanks to an eagle-eyed Wikitude developer who wishes to remain anonymous (thanks Chris!), we were recently pointed to a unique image sent back to Earth from Curiosity, namely a very interesting image on the front of the Mars rover:

“…The “augmented reality” or AR tag seen in the foreground can be used in the future with smart phones to obtain more information about the mission.” – NASA

You read that right; NASA just put a piece of Augmented Reality technology on the surface of Mars! Needless to say, this spread around the Wikitude office like wildfire.

So what happens when you have a group of space enthused Augmented Reality technology developers and a new product update release that includes the ability to incorporate Image Recognition capabilities? Well, one longer-than-usual lunch break later, a duo of our developers returned with a message from Mars.

Want to know what mysteries of time and space they’ve uncovered?

1. Ensure that you’ve updated to Wikitude 7.5 (available for iOS and Android devices)
2. Open the “Life on Mars” world
3. Scan the image above with your device
4. Share this message

This Wikitude world was created by two of our developers in approximately 1.5 hours, using basic web based languages (HTML5 and Javascript), and should serve as a demonstration as to what is possible with the Wikitude SDK 1.1. Obviously, our guys are intimately familiar with the Wikitude ARchitect engine and the AR creation tools surrounding it, but they inform me that a standard web developer could create something similar in just about the same amount of time, or perhaps even less, should they not be eating lunch.

In all seriousness, we applaud the incredible feat of engineering that NASA has just pulled off, and wish Curiosity and her supporting team back on Earth, all the success that they’re due.

If you consider building your own Augmented Reality app or if you want to add AR as a feature to your already existing app, please find out more about our Wikitude SDK.

Image Credit: NASA