Meet Your Female Space & Science Heroes (virtually)
A free augmented reality (AR) app that can be used on most AR-compatible tablets and smartphones (iOS & Android platforms). Link to full press release.
The history of women's contributions to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is long and varied. This app highlights only a very few of the women who have had an impact on STEM fields. Today, women are in every STEM discipline, in every type of job, and represent the widest range of background and experiences. Learn about some of our featured inventors, explorers, and researchers here:
Journey to Mars in 3D with Ellen Stofan, who currently heads the National Air and Space Museum. Listen to the stars with computer scientist and astronomer Wanda Diaz. Explore NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory with astronaut Cady Coleman. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Mars 2020 rover with Christina Hernandez, an instrument engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Tour the Crab Nebula pulsar with astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
Download the free app for iPhone/iPad (App Store) or Android (Google Play Store).
The project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, Because of Her Story. Launched in 2018, Because of Her Story is one of the country’s most ambitious undertakings to research, collect, document, display and share the compelling story of women.
Support also comes from Chandra. The Chandra X-ray Observatory, one of NASA’s “Great Observatories,” has a special connection to the Smithsonian as its science and operations center is at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra X-ray Center on behalf of NASA.
This project is not only about women, it is created exclusively by women.
Kimberly Arcand, principle investigator; visualization scientist, Chandra X-ray Center (CXC)
Sasha Samochina, co-PI, creative technologist; deputy manager of the Ops Lab, NASA’s JPL
Mandy Mandelstein, filmmaker and technologist
Kristin DiVona, designer (CXC)
April Jubett, videographer (CXC)
Megan Watzke, science writer (CXC)
Sara Price, research assistant (CXC)
ProtoSpace is a JPL-developed software package that uses the Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality platform for rapid collaborative visualization of complex mechanical CAD models. ProtoSpace consists of three subsystems: a model processing pipeline, a web portal for uploading and preparing models, and a networked HoloLens visualization client.
ProtoSpace has pioneered industry-leading immersive visualization capabilities that enable groups of people to collaborate quickly and naturally around complex CAD models, finding and fixing problems earlier in the process at a reduced cost and risk.
Roles: Project Lead
JPL developed Spacecraft AR in collaboration with Google. The app uses Google's ARCore technology to bring 3-D spacecraft into users' devices using native mobile augmented reality. ("Native mobile" AR uses the built-in capabilities of a mobile device to interact with 3-D environments and objects.)
Within the Spacecraft AR app, users swipe to select among missions that observe and explore Earth, Mars and the other planets, and choose the spacecraft they would like to see. Once the app detects a flat surface, users simply tap the screen to place the spacecraft into the scene in front of them. They can take and share photos directly from the app and view in-depth information about each mission. And for those using the app in spaces that are large enough, there's even a button to view the spacecraft at their actual sizes.
Role: Producer, Creative Director
OnSight is a multi-platform visualization system that allows users to explore the surface of Mars in an immersive, full-scale, 3D terrain reconstruction. OnSight represents a revolutionary approach to rover operations by combining newly invented capabilities in terrain reconstruction with an innovative mixed reality display. Read more about OnSight here.
Roles: Executive Producer, Project Manager
Access Mars is a WebVR experience developed in collaboration with Google, adapted from JPL's OnSight software. Imagery from NASA's Curiosity rover provided the terrain, allowing users to wander the actual dunes and valleys explored by the spacecraft. Access Mars lets anyone with an internet connection take a guided tour of what those scientists experience. A simple walkthrough explains what the Curiosity rover does and details its dramatic landing in 2012. Users also can visit four sites that have been critical to NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission: Curiosity's landing site; Murray Buttes; Marias Pass and Pahrump Hills. Additionally, the rover's latest location on lower Mt. Sharp will be periodically updated to reflect the mission's ongoing progress. To date, Access Mars has had more than 15,000 hours of use, from users in all parts of the world.
Roles: Producer
360 videos are an easy tool for immersive technology to be spread both to any classroom or any home for the public to learn more about NASA missions.
Please visit this page to download every panorama you see here and create your own pieces.
Roles: Editor, Graphic Designer, Creative Director, Sound Designer
Field Museum scientists are providing the tools to conserve wilderness and protect the Earth’s biodiversity, all while improving local livelihoods and fostering human connections with nature. Join in the adventure when you journey to the depths of lush Peruvian forests and come across rare and remarkable living treasures. Travel with scientists by boat and helicopter to remote locations as they protect huge tracts of wilderness. See how Field Museum scientists and volunteers are teaming up to restore the Chicago region’s native habitats, and learn what you can do to get involved.
Roles: Media Producer, Sound Designer, Composer, Director of Photography
A selection of video pieces that were created for short-term running exhibits for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, IL.
Roles: Director, Producer, Camera Operator, Composer, Editor
This is a selection of websites that were done with a range of clients in a variety of fields; from art and design to fashion and entertainment.
Role: Studio Manager, Producer, Designer
