Radio.Galaxy
Augmented Reality, Game Design, VR, Interactive Design,
Winner Project of the Hochschulwettbewerb 2023 by the Wissenschaft im Dialog & BMBF
In cooperation with Invisible Room GmbH & Co. KG , the groups for Multiwavelength Astronomy of Prof. Matthias Kadler and for Games Engineering of Prof. Sebastian von Mammen of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, we (Florian Eppel, Mounsif Chetitah , Sarah Maria Wagner, Paula Frecot, Dr. Daniela Dorner and I) have developed this game over the last few months as an interdisciplinary team of astronomers, designers and developers.
The project is still work in process. Final release expected for Spring 2025
The Game
Ever heard of radio interferometry? This method was used to create the impressive images of the supermassive black holes in Hashtag#M87 and our Hashtag#Milky Way. Unfortunately, this method is very complex and time-consuming. This is because several Hashtag#radio telescopes around the world are interconnected to carry out the observation. In our game, you can find out how this works. It’s your job to take a photo of the black hole M87 and find the best telescope constellation to do so. But don’t worry, the black hole will help you!
Take your own picture of a black hole!
The lovely Black Hole character, designed by Paule Frecot, asks you to take a photo of it. In the process of doing so, you use very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) – the complicated method to observe black holes in space. You will find out why it takes a global collaboration and learn about the concepts of virtual telescopes. Will your image look like the one from M87? The first ever ‚photo‘ of a black hole?