Big picture, big data: Swiss unveil VR software of universe

A software engineer with EPFL’s Laboratory for Experimental Museology (eM ) explores with a VR helmet the most detailed 3D map of the universe with the virtual reality software Virup, in St-Sulpice near Lausanne, Switzerland. — Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: The final frontier has rarely seemed closer than this – at least virtually.

Researchers at one of Switzerland’s top universities are releasing open-source beta software on Oct 12 that allows for virtual visits through the cosmos including up to the International Space Station, past the Moon, Saturn or exoplanets, over galaxies and well beyond.