Shared immersive XR Hyper-Realistic Environment for Extravehicular Activity Surface Operations

Tietronix is proposing to develop a framework and associated artifacts development tools and workflow to provide a photorealistic multi-user multi-modality shared extended reality (XR) environment. We foresee the capability of our framework to enable AR and VR users collaboration, and to provide a wider set of interactions and use cases as compared to immersive VR alone. The envisioned framework is the continuation of our work during Phase I, which plans to continue the endeavors for a hardware-independent system designed to be as extendable to novel hardware as possible. It also aims to provide the ability to support the execution of complex procedures by overlaying visual cues and information superimposed to the AR and VR views, as well as auditory or other tactile inputs that may enhance training. This project revolutionizes spaceflight operations testing and training, decreases the crew cognitive workload by providing them with an enhanced training experience and enhance their operational performance. It maintains the spirit of the goals emphasized in NASA’s Strategic Plan – especially those related to human exploration and the development of space and Earth-based research as it relates to space technologies. It supports Crew Autonomy Beyond LEO and NASA’s Digital Transformation efforts. Virtual and Augmented Reality technology promises to reduce the crew time required for logistics management and improve the accuracy of ground databases used for logistics management and ops planning. It is aligned with the NASA’s Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems as well as Exploration Destination Systems which calls for development of a framework for an integrated training design that supports skill acquisition, retention, and transfer and Operations Effectiveness. Technical Objectives: 1. Identify additional use cases surrounding the proposed framework. 2. Evaluate existing architecture. 3. Expand prototype with additional features. 4. Perform user studies on usability of the framework and use cases. 5. Characterize the benefits of the proposed framework. Deliverables at the end of the contract: 1. Final Report 2. Models Developed during Phase II
Benefits: Complex assembly and maintenance tasks in space operational environments NASA Gateway missions NASA Artemis program Lunar Rover Training Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) project Scientific Hybrid Reality Environment (SHyRE) project Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (JARVIS) Automotive assembly training Airline pilot training Power plant systems Solar electrical generating plants operator and field technicians training Department of Defense (DoD) large complex systems training