Black Hole Vision
Creative
camera effects
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Black Hole Vision
Physically accurate black hole simulation using your iPhone camera
apps.apple.com#black hole simulation#gravitational lensing#iphone camera effect#general relativity#kerr black hole
How HN took it
15 positive, 41 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 8 critical, out of 65 comments about the project. Thread score +0.11.
Idea: 7 for, 3 againstExecution: 2 for, 4 againstDesign: 2 for, 1 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 0 againstPerformance: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun and visually neat; appreciation for the physics behind it.
From 3 comments
Neat. I'll probably use it for five minutes, appreciate the math that went into it, and move on. But nevertheless, pretty neat. I say that because there's an idea to play with…
bryant on HNInstant download for me. I’m a sucker for anything black hole related.
gigatexal on HNOh man this so reminds me of the old iPhone apps which were so epic and so cool
ilrwbwrkhv on HN
Respect for not collecting personal data.
From 2 comments
Hey, thanks for not collecting personal data for no good reason!
j33zusjuice on HN> Data Not Collected > The developer does not collect any data from this app. Well, duuh, nothing can escape the black hole, not even information!
JBiserkov on HN
Objections
Shadow shape and display do not match expected black hole appearance.
From 2 comments
As far as I can tell, the black hole's you're generating don't look especially correct in the preview: they should have a circular shadow like this https://i.imgur.com/zeShgrx.jpeg
20k on HNThe preview shows that you have a static black hole selected This shape of the shadow is also wrong for kerr though, this is what kerr looks like: https://i.imgur.com/3cS1fNI.png
20k on HN
Does not model the full physics, such as time delays and disappearing light.
From 2 comments
Yes, agreed. We thought it would be fair to call it a "simulation" of what your surroundings would look like if a black hole were within your FOV, but as you say we do not take…
lupsasca on HNThis is not a simulation of a black hole, but rather an image filter that emulates one particular effect.
Y_Y on HN
Requests
Android version.
From 2 comments
Very nice – if only I could try it! :'-) Any chance this could be ported to Android, at least for high-end devices with a decent GPU?
codethief on HNNo plans for an Android version?
aljgz on HN
Augmented reality pinning of black holes.
From 2 comments
Neat. I'll probably use it for five minutes, appreciate the math that went into it, and move on. But nevertheless, pretty neat. I say that because there's an idea to play with…
bryant on HNCommenting to reinforce this idea: I'd love an AR approach where I can pin a black hole with a given radius into my living room, and walk around it! The geosharing augmented…
isoprophlex on HN
Apple Vision Pro version.
From 2 comments
So cool! Vision Pro version?
DrStartup on HNThat's an excellent idea! And indeed, part of the reason we started with the iPhone is because we've been thinking from the get-go about an eventual extension to Apple Vision…
lupsasca on HN
Accretion disk simulation.
From 1 comment
Another nice feature would be if it could simulate an accretion disk.
neallindsay on HN
Questions
Does it work on desktop or use iPhone-specific features?
From 1 comment
Does it use iPhone-specific features or could it work on, e.g., a desktop
01HNNWZ0MV43FF on HN
Why does it require iOS 17.5 or later?
From 1 comment
Pendatic but can I ask why does this app require 17.5 or later? For reference, the latest iOs version is 18. What specific API is being used to require that version?
bossyTeacher on HN
Does the app show redshift?
From 1 comment
Would a person notice red-shifts from the black hole as well?
floxy on HN
Alternatives named
Dominic Chang's browser-based black hole filter.
From 1 comment
I think what he showed you was likely a version of this that was coded up by Harvard graduate student Dominic Chang: https://dominic-chang.com/bhi-filter/ It works very well (and…
lupsasca on HN
Veritasium gravitational lensing video (not a product).
From 1 comment
Here's Veritasium video on Gravitational Lensing effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUyH3XhpLTo
ayakang31415 on HN