There has never been a visit like this. For the first time in telepresence communications, NASA flight surgeons were "holographically" to the International Space Station (ISS), appearing and talking in real time in the form of virtual presence hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface.
If it sounds like Star Trek, then you're too far away. (After all, Star Trek: The Voyager does have a holographic projection of the artificial doctor.) ）
But this is not science fiction. Last October, when NASA flight surgeon Josef Schmid was teleported to the International Space Station, Microsoft's "holoportation" technology made that illusion possible, which allows users to interact in real time with 3D representations of remote participants.
"It's a whole new way of communicating with humans over long distances," Schmid said. "It's a whole new way of human exploration, and our human entity is able to leave Earth."
Schmid and other team members during the holographic transmission meeting. (ESA/Thomas Pesquet)
Unlike traditional holographic projections that seem to hover in the air for anyone to see, holographic movement requires the use of augmented reality headsets, such as Microsoft's HoloLens technology, so that the wearer can sense (and interact with) the individuals captured remotely(s) and shoot them in the actual location with a multi-camera setup.
In this context, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, wearing such headsets on the International Space Station, had a two-way conversation with Schmid and members of his medical team, as well as Fernando De La Pena Llaca. CEO of AEXA Aerospace, which develops custom holographic transmission software (the kind of software that makes this International Space Station conference possible).
While Microsoft's holographic transmission technology has been around for a few years — at various stages of development — it's never been used for something as ambitious as connecting Earth medical researchers with astronauts on missions, circling the earth for hundreds of miles in the sky.
However, it is this precise ability — bridging the physical gap and connecting people over long distances in space — that could be important for future space exploration missions. In this way, scientists can virtually interact with real-time 3D representations of remote participants on Earth, the space station, or other spacecraft, enabling more engaging and immersive collaboration than standard 2D video calls.
"Our bodies don't exist, but our human entities absolutely exist," Schmid said.
"Imagine that no matter where you work in this work, you can bring the best instructors or actual designers of particularly complex technologies to you."
NASA flight surgeon Joseph Schmid holograms into the International Space Station. (ESA/Thomas Pesquet)
The next step in the development of this technology is to achieve full two-way holographic interaction.
In this experiment, Pesquet was the only participant to wear augmented reality headsets, which allowed him to perceive other participants as digital 3D holograms because Schmid and the other participants were not wearing the device themselves.
However, once all participants are equipped with similar gear, the possibility of jumping into the reality of others could become more instructive and transformative for extraterrestrial astronauts — whether you're consulting doctors on Earth about medical issues or exchanging important ideas about missions for NASA researchers' goals.
Christian Maender, head of research at space infrastructure company Axiom Space, explained to Verge in 2021: "What it really plays is to provide opportunities for longer spaceflight and deeper spaceflight." ”
"You're really talking about wanting to build relationships between your crew — wherever they're traveling — and going back to someone on Earth."