The Aalto Virtual Planetarium is a tour of the inner Solar System, with the grand structures of planetary magnetospheres show through the eyes of a space physicist. Aimed at education and outreach, the immersive virtual reality experience demonstrates Aalto space research, including the plasma physics of the Sun, magnetosphere of inner planets, the Finland100 satellite and cometary environments. Complex structures and spatial scales of magnetospheric physics are intuitively presented, with plans for research tools of 3D simulation data based on the system.
Contact point: Esa Kallio, esa.kallio@aalto.fi
The easiest way to get the latest version of AVP 3.X for Oculus Quest 1 and 2, known as Space Walk, is to get it directly via Oculus App Lab:
You can also get the software from this website:
A public version of the latest AVP virtual reality beta version software version (executable package for Oculus Quest 1 and 2) is available here:
Space Walk is also available for users without VR glasses
A public version of the latest Windows version is availabe here:
A public version of the latest Linux beta version is availabe here:
AVP_linux_3.0_beta_20230729.zip
Aalto Virtual Planetarium by Aalto University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at innovation.aalto.fi.
The work contains material from multiple sources, see
for details.
Videos and images made by the Space Walk:
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Suomi 100 did what could previously be done only by much larger satellites: photographing and studying the aurora borealis, Aalto University’s News, 8.6.2022. [Video]
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BepiColombo Mercury Flyby, SERENA website, 1.10.2021. [Video]
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On Friday night, BepiColombo will pass by Mercury for the first time, Aalto University’s News, 29.9.2021. [Images]
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Aalto's Space Walk - sustainable space tourism for all, Exhibition at the Helsinki Central Library Oodi 20 August - 12 September 2021. [Video]
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BepiColombo, en route to Mercury, flew by Venus – simulation shows clouds of particles escaping from the planet, Aalto University’s News, 14.10.2020. [Video]
Project Lead:
Esa Kallio
Development of version 2
VR Project Lead: Sebastian Schlecht
VR Programming: Toni Pesola
VR Programming: Henry Helander
Music: Andrea Mancianti
Academic expert: Riku Järvinen