On Saturday, December 11, 2004, from 1-3 PM, the Adler Planetarium publicly
presented Mars Explorer, a Mars Rover simulation; and Arcanium, a Solar System exploration simulation. The games were designed by undergraduate and graduate Art and Computer Science students from University of Illinois at
Chicago, as part of a semester-long course in video game programming taught by Associate Professor of Computer Science Jason Leigh.

The games featured in Adler's Crown 3D Theater, the first theater in
the country to show 3D images from the Mars Rover expedition. The technology supporting the games on exhibit was based on the Electronic Visualization Laboratory's GeoWall, a projection-based system for viewing 3D stereoscopic computer graphics.

Mars Explorer, designed by Chip Collier, Ken Dellmeyer and Xinxia Wu, allowed players to roam the sand-and-rock-strewn Martian surface. The game's designers worked with scientists at Adler to better understand the
challenges of running a Rover.

Arcanius, designed by Gideon Goldman and Julieta Aguilera, allowed players to explore the planets and moons of our Solar System. Players can travel from planet to planet, as well as view it in its entirety, with the planets orbiting and leaving trails of spiraling helixes as it moves through space.

The groups have been invited back for another demonstration in January, and to work towards putting them on for longer-term display in the museum.