At SpaceRobotics, we continue to expand our development of interactive scientific and astrophysical experiences, one of our main areas of expertise in education, science outreach, museums and science centres.
For the 2026/2027 educational season, we have developed new Augmented Reality tools for astronomy, designed to transform concepts that are difficult to visualise — such as the enormous differences in stellar sizes, astronomical distances, constellations or the geometry of an eclipse — into three-dimensional experiences that can be directly observed and explored in the classroom.
The project combines astrophysics, education, programming, 3D design and interactive technologies to create tools that go far beyond simply displaying information on a screen. Our goal is to use technology to represent phenomena that, because of their scale, distance or nature, would be impossible to reproduce physically, making them easier to understand while maintaining scientific accuracy.
Augmented Reality to Understand the Stars
One of the new experiences uses physical constellation cards combined with Augmented Reality. When viewed through a compatible device, the cards are transformed into an interactive digital experience that provides additional information and allows students to visualise different characteristics of the stars that make up each constellation.
This makes it possible to explore concepts that are particularly difficult to convey through traditional illustrations. When we observe a constellation from Earth, its stars appear to lie on the same plane, but in reality they can be separated by vast distances and located at completely different depths in space.
The experience provides a visual way to introduce concepts related to stellar distances, sizes, colours, temperatures and physical properties, helping students understand that a constellation is, to a large extent, the result of our particular perspective from Earth.
Making the Scale of the Universe Easier to Understand
One of the great challenges of astronomy education is working with scales and magnitudes that are completely beyond our everyday experience.
We can explain that a star is several times larger than the Sun or that it is located tens, hundreds or thousands of light-years away, but truly understanding these differences requires more than simply memorising numbers.
Interactive technologies allow us to create three-dimensional comparisons and visual representations that help transform these figures into concepts that are easier to understand. We can compare stars, explore their characteristics and relate their appearance to physical properties such as size, temperature or colour.
From these initial visual experiences, students can progress towards more complex astrophysical concepts such as stellar evolution, luminosity, mass, spectral classification and chemical composition, adapting the scientific level to the age and knowledge of each group.
From a Star’s Colour to Its Composition
Another aspect explored through these experiences is the relationship between light, colour and the physical properties of stars.
A star does not have a particular colour by chance. The light we receive contains an enormous amount of information and is one of the most important tools we have for studying objects located at distances we could never reach directly.
These experiences can combine Augmented Reality with physical experiments and interactive resources to progressively introduce concepts such as temperature, the electromagnetic spectrum, light dispersion and spectroscopy.
In this way, an activity that begins by observing the colours of different stars can evolve into an explanation of how astrophysicists are able to determine the properties of an object located many light-years away simply by analysing the light that reaches us.
Simulating Eclipses with Augmented Reality
The second major tool we are introducing for the 2026/2027 educational season is dedicated to simulating solar and lunar eclipses using Augmented Reality.
Instead of explaining the phenomenon exclusively through two-dimensional diagrams, we have developed a three-dimensional representation of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, allowing students to visualise the relative positions of the three bodies and understand the geometry required for an eclipse to occur.
Being able to observe the system from different perspectives makes it easier to explain concepts such as alignment, orbits, shadows, umbra and penumbra, while also helping students understand why an eclipse does not occur every month.
Augmented Reality is particularly well suited to this type of content because it allows us to virtually place an entire astronomical system inside the classroom and explore it from multiple points of view.
In-House Development of Interactive Scientific Technology
These new experiences represent an area in which SpaceRobotics.EU has specialised for years: transforming complex science and engineering into interactive tools that can be used by students, museums, science centres, institutions and the general public.
Our multidisciplinary team combines expertise in astrophysics, engineering, programming, 3D design and modelling, electronics, robotics, multimedia and science education. This combination allows us to develop projects entirely in-house, first understanding the scientific phenomenon and then creating the most appropriate technology to explain and communicate it.
Depending on the project, we use Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, simulators, interactive applications, robotics, touchscreens, sensors, physical models and scale models, 3D printing and multimedia systems, often combining several technologies within a single experience.
We do not simply rely on existing solutions. We design and develop bespoke scientific experiences, covering the entire process from the initial concept and scientific content to software development, 3D models, user interfaces and final integration.
From a Space Mission to an Interactive Experience
This capability allows us to apply the same methodology far beyond stars and eclipses.
A space mission can become an interactive simulator; a planetary rover, a robotics experience; a satellite, an Augmented Reality application; a planet, an immersive visualisation; and data obtained from scientific instruments can be transformed into tools that help the public understand how the Universe is actually studied.
For this reason, our solutions can be developed specifically for museums, science centres, space agencies and institutions, universities, educational centres, exhibitions, events and science outreach projects, adapting both the technology and the scientific level to the needs and knowledge of each target audience.
From a Space Mission to an Interactive Experience
This capability allows us to apply the same methodology far beyond stars and eclipses.
A space mission can become an interactive simulator; a planetary rover, a robotics experience; a satellite, an Augmented Reality application; a planet, an immersive visualisation; and data collected by scientific instruments can be transformed into interactive tools that help the public understand how the Universe is actually explored and studied.
For this reason, our solutions can be specifically developed for museums, science centres, space agencies and institutions, universities, educational centres, exhibitions, events and science outreach projects, adapting both the technology and the scientific level to the needs and characteristics of each audience.
Science You Can Explore
With these new Augmented Reality experiences for the 2026/2027 educational season, we continue to develop an approach to educational technology that has defined much of our work: technology should serve science and help people understand it.
Our goal is not to use Augmented Reality simply because it is visually impressive. We use it when it allows us to explain something that would otherwise be difficult—or even impossible—to represent.
Visualising the real differences between the stars within a constellation, comparing objects of extraordinary dimensions, discovering the information hidden in light, or virtually placing the Sun, Earth and Moon inside a classroom are just some examples of how new technologies can transform the way scientific concepts are communicated.
At SpaceRobotics.EU, we design and develop interactive scientific and astrophysical experiences from the ground up, combining science, engineering, creativity and technology to transform complex phenomena into experiences that can be seen, manipulated, explored and understood.
Previous Augmented Reality constellation experience from 2024, based on physical cards (with more limited interaction).