Length contraction simulator in Unity.
This is a quick project I threw together in finals week some semesters ago. It was meant to give some distraction when needed.
In the project folder you can find everything necessary to run the project on your local unity program. Just import it and it should run. (Scripts are found in project/assets/scripts.)
A build for the iphone is also included, or can be contructed from the project. A VR headset for your phone will be needed to view the game properly.
The project is quiet large, so it may be advisable to only copy the scripts relevent, which are lengthContraction and playerControls in the assets folder. Those are the main scripts which control the movement and special relativity effect.
Those scripts can be deployed on any environment as long as you label the environement "Town" and add the lengthContraction script to the object and add a camera and the VR scripts necessary (by Google) to your player with the playerControlers script.
Some documentation for the scripts is included in the scripts. They should give simple instructions as to how it can be used.
I also included a flight sciprt. It's fun to let busses and trees fly with and control them. (Press space to accelerate and shift to decelerate. Arrows for control.)
• I would like to add the gui back to display the current speed (percentage of speed of light).
• Maybe make the lenght contraction more pronounced. That would allow the user to observe the effects even better.
• Maybe extend it to time dilation.
• There should be more going on in length contraction than just contracting the length. That also includes accounting for the time it takes for the light to travel, which result in some weird distortions. This video shows the real effects quiet well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANc3szdRT-8.