Want to visit the International Space Station? Your chance to travel into The Infinite is coming to Colorado next month
For the first time ever, humans now have the capability to transport themselves to the International Space Station through virtual reality. "The Infinite," a one-of-a-kind immersive experience, arrives at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 3.
The experience took more than three years to film. A team from Felix & Paul Studios built a series of 360-degree virtual reality cameras, partnered with NASA and sent their cameras to space. The goal was to find a way to place everyday humans on the space station through virtual reality.
"Through virtual reality we had this opportunity to capture the experience with the full sense of presence, with the full sense of being there," said Felix Lajeunesse, chief creative officer with the production studio. "This project is considered, by NASA, the largest media project ever filmed in space."
The cameras spent years in space alongside 12 different astronauts. The astronauts were tasked with placing the cameras in locations where they were working or living, with the goal of interacting with the cameras as if they were real humans visiting the space station for the first time.
Lajeunesse said the inspiration behind the project was to help those on Earth experience space in a way they just had to imagine before or rely on two-dimensional photos to envision.
"(When astronauts return home) they can talk about it, but they can never share the experience," Lajeunesse said.
The cameras rolled through six different missions to the space station.
By placing a virtual reality headset on, those who visit The Infinite Experience are transferred out of the world and into space. Your peers can be seen around you as you navigate the space station, though they appear to you as a hologram.
Visitors then have the ability to roam freely around the space station. They can walk throughout the station and choose when they want to stop and learn about what takes place in that portion of the station.
By simply stopping and using your hands to select a learning opportunity, suddenly you are emersed into life on the space station. Your action begins a video simulation where the astronauts are right next to you, talking about what they do in that space.
The visitor has the ability to turn and look around, or face the astronauts and engage with them as they do everyday tasks like eating meals, conducting research, getting haircuts and more.
"(This project) is not about understanding things. It is about experiencing things. It is about living the full experience. Nothing quite like that had ever been done before," Lajeunesse said. "We are capturing the experience. We are capturing what it is like to be there."
CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas traveled to Canada for an exclusive advanced preview of the experience, which is scheduled to arrive at the Stanley Marketplace Feb. 3 through May 5.
There he placed the headset on and made his way through the space station. He returned to Colorado saying the experience was incredible, and easily one of the most unique experiences he has had while covering the DCPA's shows and immersive experiences over the years.
"For me, the most incredible moment was when they had you walk out of the space station and participate in a spacewalk. It was stunning, sitting there with the astronauts as they repaired the space station, and when you looked below you the earth and all of its magnificence was spinnin," Thomas said. "I kept finding myself looking down, and verbally saying, 'Wow. Wow.'"
"(You get to experience) what it feels like to step out of the space station into the vacuum of space, to be out there in a spacewalk experiencing what it is like to be floating in the universe in front of our planet. The only medium to capture that is cinematic virtual reality," Lajeunesse said.
Lajeunesse said the experience has made many feel like they were a part of a space mission, thanks to such an immersive virtual reality experience.
"You are in their intimate reality up there in space with them. You feel as if another crew member," Lajeunesse said. "You truly feel like you have been in space and experienced that for yourself."
Though the VR experience lasts around an hour, those who visit are encouraged to come back. Due to the amount of video recorded and the demand to experience it, visitors will not be able to experience all of the learning opportunities in just one visit. And, every person will experience something different when they attend.
"This is the largest immersive virtual reality experience about space exploration in the world This is a unique opportunity to come and experience this," Lajeunesse said.
If you would like more information on tickets to the experience visit here.
CBS News Colorado is a proud partner of the DCPA.
