About VRGalaxies
VR-Galaxies® is the first app to allow the public to navigate the space beyond the Milky Way.

It is the first
The first app reproducing the Universe up to 85 million light-years!

Navigate
the space beyond the Milky Way and know the features of more than eight hundred galaxies.

Explore
the Universe in virtual reality.

Learn
Visualize the galaxies according to the information of the most important astronomic organizations.
Gear Up
and be prepared for this virtual journey
It is really difficult to grasp how immense the universe is. The distance to a star of our own galaxy, or the distance to another galaxy, those are spatial concepts that quickly melt in just an idea of “incredibly far away” and won´t allow us to fully assimilate certain daily notions about the most recent astronomic discoveries.
There is a vast amount of information available to the public that, due to the complexity of the data and, mostly, since there are not many visualization devices, is still out of reach of many people that feel the curiosity and interest in understanding it.
It seemed to us it would be a good idea to reunite our hobbies and professional skills in order to offer a new tool that will allow to complement, and even extend, their knowledge.
Features

Educational
information to learn the primary characteristics of the galaxies.
Perform searches
through the directory and navigate to the galaxies in auto pilot.
Access to the most relevant data
of the galaxies contained in this app: their distance, size, and most importantly, how they are distributed in space.
Interactive navigation
in a Universe of realistic scale up to 85 millionlight-years, represented according to the official data published by the main astronomic organizations.APP requirements
VR-Galaxies is not just a simple app to passively stroll in a virtual world: it is an interactive software that allows you to perform searches, inspect features, change interface modes… All these operations are quite difficult to be handled with just one button or a few movements of your head.
We chose an XBox 360 compatible controller, due to its high popularity and its low price, as the best option for the user. Since the mobile devices allow a simple adaptation to it, we know the user will not have any problem while gaining one more step in Virtual Reality.
Android
mobile phone, operative system 5.0 (“Lollipop”) or higher.

Google Cardboard
or similar VR headset.

Controller
XBox 360 compatible.

OTG cable
to adapt the controller to the mobile.
Why Google Cardboard, instead of another more powerful device?
Even though other devices, like Oculus and Vive, are really powerful and allow more functions and better graphics, we think those technologies are too expensive and too exclusive as yet to allow us the possibility of offering this app to a wider range of the public.
Despite the performance limitations of the mobile technology, we believe it is convenient to sacrifice the graphic in order to favor a longer, more divulgative reach, for a public of all ages and different economic means.
Additional information: OTG cables and USB Mass Storage
VRGalaxies requires a Xbox 360 compatible controller, and in order to plug it to your mobile you need an adapter; in this case an On The Go adapter. Your mobile needs, as well, to be able to detect this device, and that´s why it needs the USB Mass Storage feature available. Even though most of the modern mobiles have this feature integrated, you might want to check if yours is one of them.
The best way to find out is googling the name of your device + "usb mass storage", to find out whether if it has that feature or not and, if it is the case, how to activate it.
Additional information: Wireless controllers
Even though a wired controller is more suitable beacuse of its simplicity and price, you might as well already have a wireless one, so you´d probably want to use it. That´s not a problem at all, but you should consider getting a wireless receiver for your mobile. In this case, the only thing you need to do is plugging the OTG cable to your mobile and then the receiver to the OTG cable. We have found a nice and clean tutorial here..
Additional information: Samsung Galaxy S7 and Google Cardboard Apps
There´s a known issue related to Google Cardboard Apps running in Samsung Galaxy S7 devices: the double vision efect. This problem affects not just this app, but so many others that have been designed for Google Cardboard.
Our beta testers found this problem too, and here´s how they solved it:
1.- install the Google Cardboard App. in your phone.
2.- Look for the QR-code of your headset in a website like this one. Get it ready in the screen of your monitor or in another mobile, to take a picture of it when it is required.
3.- Start the Google Cardboard App and follow the instructions to apply it to your mobile device.
If that doesn´t work, there are apps in the market that are supposed to fix it, like this one, but we can´t guarantee its effectivity since we never needed it.
I´m in!     now... what?

Main MENU
Look around. You´ll see four icons sourronding you:::ENTER: will directly take you to the virtual space.
::EXIT: will quit the app.
::INFO: will take you to the scientific information environment.
::CONTROLLER INFO: will take you to the controller information environment.
Look at any of them and, when they react, press any button.

Virtual Space
Now you are really in! Turn your head around, and use the controllers to navigate through space.Take a look at the controller´s info to learn what you can do in here.
::THE JOYSTICKS: will move you around.
  Please keep in mind that acceleration is a must when we move in such a big scenario.
  You will have to hold the joystick for a few seconds if you want to move at high speed.
::THE BUTTONS: will control the interface.
::THE RIGHT TRIGGER: will take you back to the main menu when you hold it for a few seconds.

Scientific Information Room
This one might be tricky, so... move gently, astronaut!The trick here is slightly turning your head towards the icon you want to read, and the InfoSphere will rotate so you can face it.
If you feel lost, just look for the orange icons and stare at one of them until it is in front of you.
::THE ICONS: will give you information about the science behind this app.
::THE MENU ICON: press any button while it is reacting to your position, and it will bring you back to the main menu.

Controller Information Room
Here you have a visual guide for the controller. Look directly to the specific control to learn what can you do with it.::THE MENU ICON: will take you back to the Main MENU.
::THE LEFT INDEX BUTTON: will switch languages.
Controller

Left joystick
Frontal and lateral movement, relative to our line of sight.Button: activates autopilot.

Right joystick
Vertical axis: vertical movement.Button: activates "predefined view selection". It also activates autopilot towards the selected predefined view.
Horizontal axis: when "predefined view selection" is ON, it allows to choose one of them.

Left cross
Vertical axis: inspects the directory of galaxies.Right: input the selected galaxy as the compass' target.
Left: deactivates the compass.

Button X
Change the selection mark to the previous galaxy, in case we have more than one in front of us.
Button B
Change the selection mark to the next galaxy, in case we have more than one in front of us.
Button Y
Switch UI mode.
Button A
Navigation map ON/OFF.
Right index
Hold it to go back to the main menu.
Get in touch
Your opinion matters, we would like to hear from you.
Drop us a line and let us know your thoughts.
Facebook
Join the ConversationTwitter
Get the Latest NewsEmail
Send us an email