SkyVR 🌌

SkyVR is a multi-user virtual reality experience under the sky, enabling users to explore the night sky together. Built with web standards, it brings celestial data to life directly in your browser.

✨ Features

• Multi-User Exploration: Join rooms with others, see their avatars, and communicate in real-time.
• Realistic Sky: Accurate star positions and constellation data powered by the Astronomy Engine and ATHYG star catalog.
• Interactive Moon: Detailed lunar visualization using LROC data and NASA visualizations.
• VR Ready: Fully immersive experience compatible with WebXR-enabled headsets (Quest, etc.) via A-Frame.
• Cross-Platform: accessible from desktop browsers and mobile devices.

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher recommended)
• npm

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/SternwarteFulda/SkyVR.git
   cd SkyVR

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

   Note: This will automatically run a postinstall patch for the A-Frame environment component.

3. Set up environment variables:

   cp .env.example .env

   Edit .env to add your TURN server credentials (if needed for production NAT traversal) and optionally configure custom Imprint/Privacy Policy URLs.

Running locally

Start the server:

npm start

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080 (or the port specified in the console).

🛠️ Built With

• A-Frame (MIT) - WebVR framework for building virtual reality experiences.
• Networked-Aframe (MPL 2.0) - Multi-user networking for A-Frame.
• A-Frame Environment (MIT) - Infinite backgrounds for A-Frame.
• A-Frame Extras (MIT) - Add-ons and helpers for A-Frame.
• A-Frame Multi-Camera (MIT) - System for multiple cameras in A-Frame.
• A-Frame Render Order (MIT) - Component to manually set rendering order for A-Frame entities.
• Astronomy Engine (MIT) - Rigorous calculations of celestial body positions.
• Socket.IO (MIT) - Real-time bidirectional event-based communication.
• Luxon (MIT) - Powerful date and time wrapper for JavaScript.

📚 Data & Attributions

SkyVR stands on the shoulders of giants. We gratefully acknowledge the use of data and assets from:

• Star Data (ATHYG): ATHYG database by David Nash / Astronexus. (CC BY 4.0)
• Constellation Art: Created by Johan Meuris (Jomejome). (Free Art License)
• Gaia Milky Way: Data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia, processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC). (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
• Moon Textures: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. (Public Domain)
• Font: 'Outfit' by Jeremy Tribby. (OFL)
• Icons:
  • Mic On/Off, Fullscreen: Google Material Design Icons (Apache 2.0)
  • Door, Stamp, Arrow, Constellation, Draw, Cursor: SkyVR Contributors (AGPLv3)

For a full detailed list of credits and licenses, please visit the About & Attribution page within the application (accessible from the Lobby).

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPLv3). See the LICENSE file for details.