Whatever Happened to Virtual Reality?

Image credit: John Frassanito & Associates, Inc. An artist's concept of the NASA Robonaut.

Ellis, who holds advanced degrees in psychology and behavioral science, evaluates virtual reality for space applications. At the moment he's investigating user interfaces for robots such as AERCam, short for Autonomous Extravehicular Robotic Camera. These are spherical free-flying robots being developed JSC to inspect spacecraft for trouble-spots. AERCam is designed to float outside, e.g., the ISS or the space shuttle, using small xenon-gas thrusters and solid-state cameras to view the vehicle's outer surfaces and find damage in places (such as the shuttle's underside) where a human spacewalker or the orbiter's robotic arm can't safely go.

The current plan is to use a laptop and a normal, flat monitor to operate AERCam. But Ellis is conducting research, funded by NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research, to see if a virtual environment might be a better option. With a virtual reality system, the astronaut could maneuver the melon-sized AERCam with standard hand controls while intuitive head movements rotate AERCam to let the astronaut "look around."

Ellis' research is necessary because, he says, "virtual reality isn't always the best choice." For example, at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base researchers have tested virtual reality interfaces for pilots. Time after time, their tests showed that pilots perform better with traditional panel-mounted displays.

Why? No one is sure, but here's one possibility: The field of view of the virtual reality helmet was narrower than the pilots' natural peripheral vision. Ellis believes these helmets effectively divorced the pilots from the cockpit - the environment in which they learned to fly.

"There are some surprisingly simple ergonomic issues that can interfere with virtual reality interfaces," adds Ellis. For example, "in the early 1990s Mattel sold the PowerGlove (a simple virtual reality glove) as a novel way to control video games. It was cool. But kids quickly discovered that it's very tiring to hold your hand up in front of you long enough to play an entire game." You'd have to be an athlete to use it. (The glove is no longer sold.)