Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
A new program will allow NASA scientists to virtually work on Mars, walking around on the surface of the Red Planet and conducting science operations along with the Curiosity rover thanks to new Microsoft-developed wearable technology.
The US space agency announced on Wednesday that it was joining forces with the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant to develop software known as OnSight, which will use actual data from the rover to create a 3D simulation of the Mars environment for researchers.
Scientists from all over the world will be able to meet using the software, NASA explained, and the Curiosity team can use it to examine its worksite from a first-person perspective, to plan new activities for the rover and to get a hands-on preview of the results of their studies.
“OnSight gives our rover scientists the ability to walk around and explore Mars right from their offices,” said Dave Lavery, the program executive for the Mars Science Laboratory mission at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It fundamentally changes our perception of Mars, and how we understand the Mars environment surrounding the rover.”
“We believe OnSight will enhance the ways in which we explore Mars and share that journey of exploration with the world,” added Jeff Norris, the OnSight project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Changing the Mars-exploration game
Previously, rover operations required NASA scientists to examine Mars imagery on a computer screen, then infer things about what they are seeing. Unfortunately, even 3D stereo images tend to lack the natural sense of depth required for people to fully understand spatial relationships.
“The OnSight system uses holographic computing to overlay visual information and rover data into the user’s field of view,” the agency explained. “Holographic computing blends a view of the physical world with computer-generated imagery to create a hybrid of real and virtual.”
To enter this virtual environment, Curiosity team members will put on a Microsoft HoloLens device, which will allow them to experience holographic images from the rover’s field site on the Red Planet. Scientists and engineers can then walk around the surface or even bend down to examine rocky outcrops from a variety of different angles.
The tool provides a more natural way for researchers to explore the surface, said Norris.
“Previously, our Mars explorers have been stuck on one side of a computer screen,” he explained. “This tool gives them the ability to explore the rover’s surroundings much as an Earth geologist would do field work here on our planet.”
Other benefits
OnSight will also help NASA plan future rover operations. For instance, scientists located here on Earth could program activities from some of Curiosity’s instruments simply by looking at a target, then using various gestures to select commands from a menu.
The partnership between NASA and Microsoft traces its roots back to an ongoing collaboration dedicated to the development of technology to enable advanced human-robot interactions.
The JPL researchers involved with the OnSight project are specialists in control systems for robots and spacecraft, and the agency believes this new tool will help researchers learn more about the environment and workspace of robotic spacecraft.
OnSight is currently expected to be tested in Curiosity mission operations later on this year, and potential future uses of the technology include the Mars 2020 rover mission operations and other applications in support of NASA’s journey to Mars, the JPL researchers noted.
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