Try it: Virtual reality now allows you to become the Hubble Telescope

Virtual reality is one of the most interesting tech applications nowadays, and it just got cooler. With Fistful of Stars, you can now be the Hubble Telescope.

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

It’s not what Carl Sagan meant with this quote, but it sure follows his dreams and quite possibly yours.

Take a five-minute break and try Fistful of Stars, a virtual reality experience that takes you on a tour through the Orion Nebula.

This haunting virtual reality „movie” takes you to explore the awe-inspiring images captured by the Hubble Telescope in the Orion Nebula, a cosmic cloud 1,500 light years away.

„We wanted to give users the feeling as if they were a star floating on stellar winds through the Orion Nebula. That could take billions of years but we wanted to give you the experience of that spectacular journey through five minutes”, said director Eliza McNitt.

Fistful of Stars is completed by The Hubble Cantata, which includes an 100 person choir, a 30 piece ensemble and two singers for the Metropolitan Opera. It’s an experience reminiscent of the 2001 – A Space Oddyssey opening.

The movie premiered at SXSW in March and is now available on Vice’s Samsung VR Channel. For those without VR Gear, Fistful of Stars can be viewed in 360 video.

If you were charmed by this experience, also check out Dot of Light, another one of Eliza McNitt’s projects, created in collaboration with Google.

This  10 minute film, including footage captured with Pixel, chronicles the journey of 3 female astronauts towards their career and their dreams of interstellar travel. It features intimate interviws with astronauts Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, Nicole Stott and Anousheh Ansar, women who defied expectations, set records, and pioneered space travel.