Fly over the moon at FOS Future Lab 2025

It’s all been made possible by the award-winning boffins at immersive experience company Somniacs, data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and an expansive 3D map of the Moon created by Unreal Engine, a cornerstone of AAA video games like Final Fantasy VII Remake, and TV shows including Star Wars’ The Mandalorian.

This digital twin of the Moon was made to support NASA’s Artemis mission, which aims to land astronauts back on the lunar surface in 2027 — 55 years since the Apollo 17 mission saw Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spend over 22 hours strolling around the place in 1972. Using the Cesium Moon Terrain, a high-resolution 3D lunar dataset that offers precise terrain and imagery for space exploration simulations, makes integration into VR platforms and gaming engines seamless. 

That also makes it ideal for FOS Future Lab visitors, where our ‘Exploring Spatial Intelligence’ zone is the place to get your 3D, VR, and AR fix. It’s here you’ll be able to go beyond reality with Birdly — a motion platform and Sony PlayStation VR2 VR headset that simulates bird-like flight. Integrated with Unreal Engine 3D graphics, Birdly will have guests soaring over the Moon’s rugged landscape, taking in its polar regions and sights such as the Copernicus Crater, mare plains, highlands, and six Apollo mission landing sites. 

“This experience was made possible thanks to Cesium’s dedication to building detailed 3D tiles from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data,” says Pantelis Peri from Somniacs. “We have highlighted key lunar landing sites and major craters within the experience, and incorporated 3D assets inspired by historic Moon missions. The result is a visually stunning and immersive VR journey that invites users to explore the Moon like never before.

“Birdly is a full-body VR flight simulator that recreates the sensation of flight through intuitive body control. While originally designed to let users soar like birds over cities or landscapes, this new lunar experience marks an exciting evolution. For the first time, users can fly above an extraterrestrial terrain, teleporting between legendary craters and gazing at Earth from afar. It’s not about mimicking Moon gravity — it’s about wonder, immersion and perspective.”

Birdly operates on a fully electric motion platform, utilising precision actuators and sensors — no hydraulics required. Navigation is designed to be intuitive, with the system responding naturally to user gestures and movements, including speed control. “The feeling is dynamic and exhilarating, more like gliding or soaring than floating,” says Peri. “Combined with subtle motion cues, immersive audio and visuals including historical voice clips and lunar ambience, the experience triggers a powerful wow-effect that blends curiosity, excitement and awe.”

Discussing the 3D world that’s been created, Peri explains, “Unreal Engine was crucial. It allowed us to handle large-scale geospatial datasets while delivering high-fidelity visuals at a smooth frame rate. Its powerful lighting system, particle effects and rendering flexibility gave us the tools to bring the Moon to life.

“Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Cesium backend, which provided the geospatial infrastructure and data streaming essential for such a detailed lunar environment.”

With FOS Future Lab ambassador Sir Tim Peake in attendance at this year’s event, we’re keen to know how impressed the British astronaut will be by this cinematic lunar flyover if he decides to strap himself to Birdly. “We’d be truly honoured and we’re confident he’ll be impressed by how we’ve managed to turn real lunar terrain data into an immersive and inspiring experience,” says Peri.

“While it’s not built for astronaut training, it offers something equally meaningful — a chance for the general public to explore the Moon from an incredibly close and realistic perspective. For many, this may be the closest they ever get to experiencing the lunar surface.”

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The 2025 Festival of Speed takes place on 10^th-13^th July. Thursday tickets are now limited. A small batch of extra tickets for Friday–Sunday have just been released, exclusively for members of the GRRC.