NASA was present at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, where they shared with attendees what Mars looks like through the eyes (or at least the camera) of the rover. It was a perfect demonstration of Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, that allows you to interact with the world around you using augmented reality (or in this case, more of a VR experience than it is AR).
Visitors of their booth were able to wear the HoloLens and look around to find themselves on Mars, including being able to see the rover sitting right in front of them in the sand. You can see hills and small mountains off in the distance and get an idea of what it would be like to be standing on another planet, using actual imagery that has been stitched together by NASA, to help create the realistic VR experience.
They currently do not have any plans to release this to the public so that consumers can roam around mars with their own VR headsets. At least not just yet. They said you never know what the future may hold. However, currently, their focus is to share this with others at conventions and shows like this one (Comic-Con). In the meantime, you can do the next best thing by visiting the “NASA’s Eyes” program/section on NASA’s website, where you can view Earth and other elements of our Solar System (spacecraft exploring them) via free applications you can download to your computer or mobile device.
Alongside the VR experience, they also had a giant replica of one of Saturn’s moons (Enceladus), which included the steam vents on top to represent the ice and gas being shot into the atmosphere at the moon’s south pole. NASA representatives were there to share the story behind it and how it may even harbor microbial life.
