HP has announced the launch of the HP Mars Home Planet project – a global project using virtual reality to simulate what a human population of one million could look like on Mars.
Working closely with NVIDIA, Autodesk, Fusion, Launch Forth, Technicolor, Unreal Engine and VIVE, HP and its partners are uniting engineers, architects, designers, artists and students to imagine, design and experience how life could be sustained on the red planet given its climate and atmospheric challenges.
“In 2016, we conquered the International Space Station with our HP ZBook Workstations, powered by NVIDIA Quadro graphics, and now we have our sights set on Mars,” said Josh Peterson, vice president of product management for workstations, HP Inc. “Through HP and partner technology, we are unleashing engineers, architects, designers and students to help anticipate and solve the real world problems we’ll face to inhabit Mars one day.”
The project looks beyond 2030, to a time in the future where there are families and communities living on Mars.
The three phases of the year-long programme start with the Home Planet’s Mars Urbanisation Challenge, where participants will focus on transportation and infrastructure concepts for a specific location. NASA identified Mawrth Vallis – Mars Valley in Welsh – as a potential landing site on Mars. Following the concepting phase, 3D modelling and rendering will be completed – resulting in a virtual reality experience of life on Mars.
Participants of the project will use Autodesk software to make anything from 3D models of Martian buildings and cities to vehicles and infrastructure. With creative and technical leadership from Technicolor, creators will then use Unreal Engine to create a virtual reality simulation of what life on Mars could be like for one million people. The environment will build on Mars Valley terrain from Fusion’s “Mars 2030” game, which is based on NASA research.
HP Mars Home Planet is produced and managed by Launch Forth, a product development community made up of designers, engineers and solvers, working together to develop solutions to design and engineering challenges big and small, enabling participants to team up and collaborate to solve challenges.
HP Mars Home Planet is part of HP’s newly announced VR strategy which is focused on enabling brands to reimagine how they innovate and engage customers.
