I've had a fantasy for a couple of years of building a physical device that would do this. I imagine a sphere that uses a pair of rings on axis supporting an inward arrow that can rotate in all directions within the sphere - similar to how a dual axis globe works.
Your software version is much simpler to execute :)
I years ago did an exploratory prototype riffing on those town-center poles festooned with directional arrows. The base was a big fixed globe lat-lon frame, oriented to match the geographic location. Filled with arrows from the location (top of the globe) down towards assorted Earth highlights, with lengths obviously to scale. Then a (manually) despun unit with an ecliptic plate's scale planet arrows, and a set of non-scale arrows for other features (core, spinward, galactic orbital vector, great attractor, etc). A smaller second globe, similarly fixed, was solid to more easily see the Sun's shadow, which matches that on the Earth. And to have two similarly-oriented globes in hand, to hopefully make it easier to relate to the less visible third one, Earth. Doing a VR version is somewhere on my infinite todo list. :)
Some years ago (it may still be there today but my GoogleFoo is failing) there was an amazing exhibit outside @Bristol (a science centre in Bristol UK, now called We The Curious) - you input the name of a planet and a big physical pointer just like those village signs would swing round and point in a direction. On the side of the pointer it’d say the number of miles to the planet.
It was a super cool juxtaposition of screen / digital / real and very thought provoking. The counter intuitive nature always got me and my kids: pointing down through the floor to Jupiter or whatever when one’s intuition is always that everything in the sky is “above you”.
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This is very awesome!
I've had a fantasy for a couple of years of building a physical device that would do this. I imagine a sphere that uses a pair of rings on axis supporting an inward arrow that can rotate in all directions within the sphere - similar to how a dual axis globe works.
Your software version is much simpler to execute :)
I years ago did an exploratory prototype riffing on those town-center poles festooned with directional arrows. The base was a big fixed globe lat-lon frame, oriented to match the geographic location. Filled with arrows from the location (top of the globe) down towards assorted Earth highlights, with lengths obviously to scale. Then a (manually) despun unit with an ecliptic plate's scale planet arrows, and a set of non-scale arrows for other features (core, spinward, galactic orbital vector, great attractor, etc). A smaller second globe, similarly fixed, was solid to more easily see the Sun's shadow, which matches that on the Earth. And to have two similarly-oriented globes in hand, to hopefully make it easier to relate to the less visible third one, Earth. Doing a VR version is somewhere on my infinite todo list. :)
Some years ago (it may still be there today but my GoogleFoo is failing) there was an amazing exhibit outside @Bristol (a science centre in Bristol UK, now called We The Curious) - you input the name of a planet and a big physical pointer just like those village signs would swing round and point in a direction. On the side of the pointer it’d say the number of miles to the planet.
It was a super cool juxtaposition of screen / digital / real and very thought provoking. The counter intuitive nature always got me and my kids: pointing down through the floor to Jupiter or whatever when one’s intuition is always that everything in the sky is “above you”.
I wish I could find details of it on the web!
Well it’s still there! See https://maps.app.goo.gl/QAxCc2vKNrgAZH2QA?g_st=ic
You’ve just reminded me of the game Outer Wilds!
That game shows a physical device able to track planets by rotating on rings in real time (not a spoiler, it’s on the first moon).
Love the idea!
That was exactly what I pictured the moment I read the headline!
Someone hurry up and sell me one.