NASA Surgeon Hologram Goes to the International Space Station

Usage holograms the flight of people into space may seem like something out of science fiction films. In fact, it suffices to look at the cases star way or star Wars. However, this became a reality thanks to Microsoft and AEXA Aerospace. Together they developed a mechanism holoportation which has been used before, but the first time it was used to transport a human hologram to the International Space Station (ISS).

In fact, people who traveled two people went into space in such a curious way: a NASA flight surgeon Joseph Schmid and the president of AEXA himself, Fernando de la Peña Llaca. Together they spoke with a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Peke.

The conversation was real, although the crew of the International Space Station could not interact with their holograms. To do this, add to the equation a virtual reality. And this is what is already in the minds of the creators of this method of holoportation, since it would be very useful to bring specialists in various subjects to hard-to-reach places. For example, it is no coincidence that one of the first two chosen was surgeon. It can’t operate from Earth right now, but with the help of virtual reality, it can translate its movements into space and, in a way, guide astronauts during emergency operations. We are not at that stage, but there is a lot of optimism about the future.

Holograms on the International Space Station

This holoportation method combines two advanced technologies: Microsoft Kinect HoloLens Camera and custom software developed by AEXA.

Thus, with the help of holograms, it is possible to establish two-way communication between people who are far away. used since 2016, but so far it has not been used in a place as remote as the International Space Station. Its creators were particularly interested in testing it in space to see if it could be useful in the future when manned missions to places like Mars or Moon are on the order of the day.

They hope to use both of them in medical conferences between Earth and the ISS as in conversation between astronauts and their families. It can take people from Earth to space and astronauts back to Earth. His body will remain in the same place, but his essences will move through the holograms. In addition, it could be used to fly VIPs into space. This is already being done through space tourism, but this could be another option.

Virtual reality takes the stage

Given the success of this curious conversation between an astronaut and two holograms, software makers hope to go even further and allow interoperability between the two.

To do this, they plan to add both devices to the devices already in use. augmented virtual reality algorithms What tactile technologies (one that mimics the sensations of touch). This will allow various specialists to immediately travel to remote locations to perform complex tasks. For example, engineers who specialize in repairing specific instruments can be brought to the International Space Station.

Or, of course, you can make an extreme version of telemedicine. This would be useful in space as well as other very remote environments such as expeditions to Antarctica. In 1961 a Russian doctor Leonid Rogozov he made history by operating on himself on one of these missions. He, of course, had the knowledge, but the logistics are not easy when the patient and the surgeon are the same person. So it would be nice to have the help of one of his colleagues in the form of a hologram. This is only one of the options, but without a doubt, the possibilities are huge. The era of holograms begins.