IDAT 204 - AR Research into orreries

 Being that I intend to make my AR tool as a learning tool to enable the investigation of the solar system I need to do some research into information about orreries (physical structural solar system representations) and the planets and solar system themselves. 
Firstly my project wil mainly be based on the orrery concept, allowing users of the AR tool to get a visual demonstration of the solar system in progress, hopefully accurate to that studied by science.  This will ensure that the tool can be used for learning purposes as it will provide accurate information for the learner.  An orrery is a physical mechanical structure that proportionally and accurately represents the solar system according to science.  It includes the Sun and the surrounding 9 planets as well as their moons in a moving heliocentric format designed to show relative distance and speed of planets in the solar system.  An orrery most commonly looks like this:

Orreries are not very accessible these days and are not used very often in the teaching of the universe as they have been replaced by more accessible methods of teaching such as descriptions in books and simulation on computers.  The AR orrery is therefore good as its use of technology makes an orrery accessible to anyone who may want to investigate one and get a better understanding of their solar system. An AR orrery can also provide more information to the user than an original orrery would therefore increasing its functionality and usability.

This project to create an AR orrery is also interesting in terms of its cultural aspects.  When looking at the history of orreries their construction and use has a long history possibly dating back to the 100s BC.  The construction of modern day orreries however began in the 1700s AD and has continued until this day.  Orreries have now in the modern day been taken into the virtual environment through use of computers where a variety of software and online applications have been written to emulate the orrery concept in the virtual environment.

The new element that I am proposing with this orrery project is that the orrery is taken a step further into technological advancement by being as a virtual augmented object in a real space, rather than a flat image on a screen. This way the users can get the observation capabilities of the orrery that were originally part of its design, which has not been possible in the computer environment before.  Admittedly the orrery itself will still be viewed on a computer screen as this is the display for the final composition, but the user will be able to move themselves around the orrery, or the orrery around them in a way that was previously not accouted for in virtual orreries.

To be able to create a successful orrery the information about the planets must also be considered including thier orbits, speeds, size etc.  This information will be looked at in the next post.