“Gravbox” — a complex, illustrative, interactive tool was developed by University of Iowa physics and astronomy students to show the amazing effects of gravity in space.

“Gravbox” lets users mold their own universe out of sand, then observe how gravity influences an object traveling through the environment.

University of Iowa students have created an augmented-reality sandbox, dubbed Gravbox, to help explain how gravity affects objects when they travel through a certain environment. The environment is created with the sand, then a computer program projects a particle moving through that environment to show how gravity will affect it.

A University of Iowa undergraduate student gave a talk on Jan. 11, 2018 at the American Astronomical Society annual meeting in Washington, D.C. about a sandbox created by students to show how gravity works in the universe.

Jacob Isbell, an Iowa senior in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and a team of other students have created an augmented reality sandbox that simulates gravity and other astrophysical forces that make up the universe.

The NSF-funded augmented-reality sandbox, dubbed “Gravbox,” is the first interactive system of its kind to be used for astrophysics.

There's a new sandbox at the University of Iowa, but this one isn't for building sandcastles. This virtual sandbox helps explain gravity. Research students basically computercoded their own universe. That environment is projected onto a box of sand and you can move the sand to make any changes you like.