Nearing the end of an unintended year in distance , NASA astronaut Frank Rubio reflect on Earthly pleasuresthat he was eager to luxuriate in as soon as he generate home . “ I think just going out in the yard and enjoying the tree diagram and the secretiveness , ” Rubio said during a resilient broadcast from the International Space Station ( ISS ) in late September . “ Up here , we kind of have the invariant Harkat-ul-Mujahidin of machinery … so I ’m looking onward to just being outside and enjoy the peace and quiet . ”
astronaut on plank the ISS are limit within the 356 foot ( 109 metre ) of the orbiting station , drop at least six months at a time within the isolation of low-spirited Earth orbit . Hoping to alleviate the cost space mission can have on astronauts ’ genial health , a health care platform teamed up with a practical reality brand to make the first VR headset aimed at cure homesickness in space .
XRHealth collaborated with HTC Vive to reconfigure its Vive Focus 3 headset so that it can be used in the microgravity surround . “ The goal was to render alike experiences to what they would have if they were with us on Earth , ” Thomas Dexmier , adjunct vice president of Enterprise Solutions at HTC , recite Gizmodo .
Mogensen during VR training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Photo: NASA
The headset will launch to the ISS as part of SpaceX ’s twenty-ninth commercial resupply missionary station , which is currently scheduled for November 7 at 9:16 p.m. ET . European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen , who launch to the place station on August 26 as part of the Crew-7 commission , will be the first to taste the headset in the microgravity environment .
“ I ’ve never been to space myself but I hear that when they ’re on a mission , cosmonaut live in a passably cold-blooded and sterile , stressful environment , ” Dexmier say . “ I ca n’t even start to think myself being altogether reduce out of the real world . ”
The biggest issue that astronaut clamber with are closing off and parturiency , as well as the lack of fresh air and natural luminosity , and reduce sensory input . to alleviate the risk these stressors might have on astronauts ’ behavioral health , NASA provides light-emitting diode lighting , dissonance cancelling earbuds , sleep mask , and individual eternal sleep pods . Those small comforts , however , can only do so much .
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen will be the first to try the VR headset in space.Photo: ESA
Immersive technology has been used as an emerging peter to regale mental wellness issue like stress , anxiety , and depression . For astronauts on board the ISS , the headset is designed to simulate comfort environments on Earth such as swim with dolphins , hiking a deal track , or watching the sunset over a lush J. J. Hill landscape . “ The primary experiment that they want to carry here is to see if practical realism can have that stress palliate effect on astronaut because we bed it works on Earth , ” Dexmier said . “ It ’s take into account them to let their minds stray . ”
The tricksy part was break a virtual reality headset that would act upon in a microgravity environs . VR headsets swear on gravitational attraction vectors for orientation , basically to know what ’s up and what ’s down . In a microgravity environment , however , everything is mixed up , necessitating adjustment to the headset ’s figure to forbid motion unwellness among astronauts . To heighten stableness and reduce move sickness in the microgravity environment of space , the HTC Vive squad made strategic change to the headset ’s anchor points . They mounted one of the ground tackle points on a restrainer that is firmly fastened to the infinite station itself . This allowance guarantee that the headset uses the space post as its primary period of reference , rather than relying on the hem in environment , which can be disorienting in infinite .
“ So you require to have a computer address point that moves with you and you have to have your physical humans and your virtual existence in full synchroneity . Otherwise , it just messes up with your horse sense , ” Dexmier excuse . “ We look at how the headset is moving and we basically kind of offset one move against the other . ”
Mogensen will be essay the headset for the rest of his commission , which is fructify to last until other 2024 . Based on the astronaut ’s experience , the company will make up one’s mind where to go from there . “ We ’ll be waiting to hear what they have to say and hopefully we are aline on the expectations as to the ego relieving effect of VR for heedfulness and well being , ” Dexmier say . “ We ’re just going to be patiently waiting to see this matter leave Earth , and hopefully everything works as planned . ”
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Frank RubioHTC ViveSpace medicineSPACEXVirtual world
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