The Scale of Things

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Ever wonder how tall the Space Shuttle or at the Saturn V rocket that went to the moon stands, even if you knew the answer is difficult to imagine the true scale of these grandiose attestations of man’s ingenuity in science and mechanical engineering. How do you explain the size of a giant redwood tree to your kids, if they are not some of the lucky few who have never seen one of these ancient natural wonders? Struggle no more, two apps provide the perfect solution to the two above problems as well as a number of others that may even intrigue the most disinterested among us.

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Universal Zoom from Tony Hoffman is for the moment purely iOS focused, and explores the scale of all types of objects on our planet, which allows users to perceive a relative scale on objects that may interest them. The Universal Zoom app allows you to explore and compare the relative sizes of a variety of objects as well as the distances between them, the subject matter includes the tiniest mammals and ranges through the Empire State building. The app provides a visual illustration of a representative objects by depicting relatively skilled individual sizes in a visual comparison, the app provides an excellent option for curious laymen, or students, or even educating kids on the world around them. Users can select from a variety of approximately 200 creatures and objects by simply clicking on them, where after a voice recites the label text, if a user has no specific subject in mind they can simply scroll around in the app fire its explore button. Using the app brave explorers have discovered that 20 walruses can travel lengthwise in a new Airbus A380, though ticket costs might be slightly too high for the average walrus.

Cosmic Zoom is another rendition of Tony Hoffman’s iOS app that delivers similar functionality to its Universal Zoom app discussed above, but this time focuses on the scale of bodies in the vast universe we live in. Its range of featured objects include zooming in to the beauty of its amazing microscopic world or get a read on the distances into the farthest reaches of galactic space by simply allowing your fingers to run across its explorer function, or utilising its handy pop-up menus. All views feature augmented explanatory video and text.

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