NASA VR pays tribute to Stanley Kubrick

Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey may inspire future deep space missions to use VR.

Future deep space operations may take inspiration from Hal, the fictional AI antagonist from the 1968 film 2001; A Space Odyssey.

For years NASA had used VR to train astronauts, but never for actual inflight procedures - until now. Northrop Grumman and NASA's Johnson Space Center contracted the Houston-based multimedia studio Exhibitry to define future VR space operations. The Gateway VR Experience represents a “concept car” approach to demonstrating the usage and the value of deep space VR operations. 

Exhibitry NASA VR for Deepspace Missions.jpg

Exhibitry developed the user experience for VR space robotics operations in a series of immersive mission simulations they created. The simulations served  as a technical evaluation tool for NASA astronauts and engineers to experience alternative interfaces for flight operations. The simulations also needed to appeal to a non-technical audience and be usable by non-scientists. 

Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001; A Space Odyssey, Exhibitry developed an omniscient computer voiceover to guide the user through each experience. “We chose to go with a non-homicidal Hal  that would be useful for Astronauts, and intriguing for non-technical users.” said Tracy Evans, president of Exhibitry. “The voice guide became a Narrated Procedure Log Display, or NPLD (NASA loves their acronyms), to serve as both an automated checklist for the astronauts, and a self-guided tutorial for everyone else.”

The Gateway VR Experience is currently being used for training and evaluation inside the full-size Gateway space station training vessel, also created by Exhibitry, in the famed Building 9 (Vehicle Mockup Facility) at Johnson Space center in Houston, Texas.  

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