NASA SUITS

The NASA SUITS (Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students) challenges students to design and create spacesuit information displays within augmented reality (AR) environments to be used inside astronaut helmets during EVAs. As NASA pursues Artemis - landing American astronauts on the Moon, the agency is accelerating investment in surface architecture and technology development, using augmented reality technology. Using a Microsoft HoloLens 2 and the Unity Engine with the Mixed Reality Toolkit, our user interface is overlaid as an Alternate Reality assistive technology for astronauts on potential future moon missions. According to user research, astronauts were unable to use their equipment effectively and consistently with bulky gloves and often unfree hands holding tools, etc. Due to this we focused on voice commands to allow for hands-free use, but also had gestures for quick commands. Our team was chosen to compete in the NASA SUITS Challenge as a finalist and completed user testing with astronauts at the NASA Space Center in Houston Texas but unfortunately due to COVID, the testing was remote.