Development of augmented reality binoculars for astronomical observation by non-professionals

Abstract

The mystery and beauty of the cosmos have been the subject of our interest for ages, allowing people to navigate, tell stories and find answers to our most existential questions. However, light pollution and the complexity of optical instruments have made us lose touch with the splendour of the universe. An opportunity was found to remedy this issue by combining binoculars with augmented reality technology. This project was initiated to explore the development of this envisioned product. The major challenge in the project was found in the multidisciplinary approach required to obtain meaningful information about all aspects of developing the envisioned product. Some examples are optical engineering, information technology, user experience design and astronomy. All human, technology and business aspects were analysed to determine who the target user is and what this user wants from the product, how the product should work and how it can achieve a competitive advantage in the market. The results indicated that binoculars are ideal for astronomical observation because of their wide field of view and straightforward use. By digitally augmenting the natural view through the binoculars, the envisioned product can make it easier to discover celestial objects and to explore the night sky. The augmentation also makes it possible to show objects that are normally hard to spot, make smaller details visible and allow the user to interact with objects of interest. The result makes astronomy more accessible, less abstract and visually more immersive than traditional tools such as telescopes. From a technical perspective, further development was focused on seamlessly combining the natural and digital view. A custom optical construction, including specialised projectors and beamsplitters, was designed in order to match the perceived resolution, brightness level and focal distance of both views. From a psychological perspective, focus was put on evoking the ‘overview effect’. This emotional response is defined as a cognitive shift in awareness, created by truly understanding how immense the universe is; and how small we are. By offering the user a way to visually understand the relationships between celestial objects, he or she is able to put the immense scale of the cosmos in perspective. Augmented reality was found to be perfectly suited for this purpose, because it maintains a clear visual connection to reality; unlike virtual reality, which replaces it completely with digital imagery. In order to prove the technical feasibility of the product, a functional prototype was created. Using a smartphone as the image source, custom digital content was successfully overlaid on the natural view through a pair of existing binoculars. The sensors inside the smartphone could be used to sync the content with the movement of the binoculars, creating an experience that comes close to the one offered by the envisioned product. Together with an interactive computer simulation and a mock-up of a mobile application, the prototype was used to evaluate the actual user experience with target users. The results indicated that the envisioned product is successful at making astronomy more accessible by simplifying exploration of the night sky and at providing a visually immersive and entertaining experience. However, more work is required to find a better way to make astronomy less abstract. The thesis was concluded with suggestions on how to do so, and provides recommendations for further development.