Mangalyaan madness: Want a selfie with Mars? There's an app for that

Hyderabad: City-based start-up Smartur has developed a mobile application (app) built on augmented reality that allows users of Android phone users and iOS mobile devices to click a selfie with Indian spaceship Mangalyaan that is due to land on Mars this week. [caption id=“attachment_1723833” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A screengrab of the app[/caption] The Smartur app will provide the mobile users a platform to experience and participate in India’s most important space programme milestone - the historic arrival of Mangalyaan on Mars on 24 September, according to a release. The Smartur app is an augmented reality app that has been developed using a 3D model and provides the user with an almost ‘real’ experience of seeing the object (in this case Mangalyaan) in their living environment, the release said. The app allows the participants to click and upload/ share innovative pictures that can look like Mangalyaan is lifting off from their hands or out of their car or any other idea that comes to their mind, it said. A participant would be required to download the app for free on their mobile device and take a print out of the ‘Marker’ (a marker is a design that helps the model the Mangalyaan to be placed in reality). The combination of the app and marker would give users an actual feel of being right there with the Mangalyaan, it said. PTI