Das Game Lab am MIT hat mit Hilfe einer Open Source-Engine ein Game entwickelt, welches Einsteins Relativitätstheorie visualisiert und die Effekte sichtbar macht, die bei Lichtgeschwindigkeit eintreten. An «A Slower Speed of Light» hätte Dr. Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper da seinen Spass dran und gibt es für Windows и Mac mit Dopplereffekt und allem. Dass ganze sieht irgendwie nach einem LSD Trip aus. Ganz nett, aber wenn man alle 100 gesammelt hat ist das Spiel vorbei und den echten Spass – nämlich mit Lichtgeschwindigkeit zu laufen – kann man dann nur noch ganz kurz am Ende haben…
A Slower Speed of Light is a first-person game in which players navigate a 3D space while picking up orbs that reduce the speed of light in increments. A custom-built, open-source relativistic graphics engine allows the speed of light in the game to approach the player’s own maximum walking speed. Visual effects of special relativity gradually become apparent to the player, increasing the challenge of gameplay.
These effects, rendered in realtime to vertex accuracy, include the Doppler effect (red- and blue-shifting of visible light, and the shifting of infrared and ultraviolet light into the visible spectrum); the searchlight effect (increased brightness in the direction of travel); time dilation (differences in the perceived passage of time from the player and the outside world); Lorentz transformation (warping of space at near-light speeds); and the runtime effect (the ability to see objects as they were in the past, due to the travel time of light). Players can choose to share their mastery and experience of the game through Twitter. A Slower Speed of Light combines accessible gameplay and a fantasy setting with theoretical and computational physics research to deliver an engaging and pedagogically rich experience.