Design of Next Generation User Interfaces based on Augmented Reality technologies to train astronauts on the Gateway in support of the Moon Mission

摘要

Next Generation User Interfaces (UIs) can play a key role in the autonomous functions of various activities on the Gateway as part of the Moon Mission. This paper discusses the adoption of Augmented Reality based UIs to support 2 thrusts involving astronaut related service activities in the context of the Gateway: (1) performing part replacement service operations involving laptops (2) moving payloads to storage locations within the Gateway. This paper summarizes the key aspects of the requirements, overall AR based UI design based on cyber-human design principles, implementation and user assessment of the UIs created. Two platforms (HoloLens™ and Vive™) were used to build these AR UIs. The 3D environments were created using Unity 3D engine and C# programming tools. Three teams worked on the design, implementation and testing of the various modules in three respective AR UIs. Systems engineering principles were adopted by the teams to plan and implement the project activities. User based assessment studies focused on comparing the two AR platforms (Vive and HoloLens) in supporting the creation of these UIs. The design and development of these AR based UI were the focus of student teams participating in the 2019 NASA's X-Hab Challenge initiative involving the Gateway and Moon Mission contexts.