ORRERY: the Educational Interactive Solar System

Application Domain

---

Interactive educational tools are becoming increasingly popular in museums and schools, being an ideal way to demonstrate and clarify otherwise difficult concepts. Inscape’s simple and logical 3D environment and scripting capabilities make it a perfect platform for simulating relatively complex systems and allowing the viewer to interact with them in a variety of ways.

Story Outline

---

Orrery consists of two distinct sections. The first is a detailed and accurate 3D model of the solar system which the user can move around, observing the planets in their correct orbits. On reaching a certain proximity to each planet, the interface automatically cuts to a brief video sequence of the relevant planet with textual information about it.

The Main Interface

The main interface is a 3D model of the solar system around which the player can travel using the keyboard and/or mouse. The planets and moons can be seen orbiting each other and light is emitted by the sun, creating night and day, eclipses etc. If the user moves too far out of the solar system he/she will be automatically returned to the centre. Certain visual and sound effects will be triggered by user actions. As the user moves towards the edge of the solar system, the user’s view will start to be obscured by interference. As the player approaches the sun, warning messages will appear on the screen.

A musical soundtrack, modulated and controlled by the user’s proximity to each planet will be featured in the main interface.
 

Video Sequences

The video sequences are 20 second, high-resolution CGI animations with text superimposed. When each has finished, the viewer is returned to the main interface.
 

Highlighted INSCAPE Features

---

In this scenario, we will be using several INSCAPE core features. We will focus particularly on the Stage Editor and Story Editor. The following capabilities will be specifically emphasised in this story:

Combining images, 3D content and video in a single story.

Using Stages and Situations to structure different types of interactivity.

Setting up links and timed interactive devices using code snippets.

Using a 3D first person walkthrough.

Using visual effects including particle systems, lighting and video overlays.

Creating an interactive soundtrack using proximity triggers and the Sound Editor.