Space is the final frontier. And astronauts are our pioneers. But our boys are very ill equipped. At least our heroes embarking on this journey into the unknown deserves a sidekick. And it turns out; Microsoft with its HoloLens has just got them covered.
Project “sidekick” launched by Microsoft in partnership with NASA will allow all the astronauts to go all IRONMAN.
Currently, astronauts take notes on pieces of paper and receive instructions from NASA by voice only. So old school for people living in space, right!
Well Microsoft previously had demoed their HoloLens technology on stage, and its basically a headsets that create interactive holographic images and embeds them in the real world creating an augmented reality.
Recently Microsoft offered a demo using HoloLens to create virtual Martian (mars) terrain, showing the power and possibilities if its augmented reality headset.
Microsoft will be sending a few HoloLens headsets to the ISS (International Space Station) in the next shipment and speculation is that astronauts will go paperless by the end of this year.
Project “sidekick” is currently said to have two modes. The Remote Expert Mode, which uses Skype to bring real-time annotations and let people sitting at NASA see through the eyes of the astronauts.
Then the Procedure Mode requires HoloLens and brings Holograms into the interactions of the space crew and items they might use.
NASA has reported that project Sidekick and HoloLens will be used and evaluated during NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation) 20 expedition, which will commence on July 21.
A group of astronauts and engineers will go to the only undersea research station, Aquarius for two weeks, where the whole project will be evaluated.
There is no current date for the exact arrival of HoloLens to the International Space Station, but NASA said
“expects astronauts on the station will first use Sidekick by the end of the year.”
Hopefully by then some of us back home on earth would also have access to the HoloLens
