The Effectiveness of Augmented Reality for Astronauts on Lunar Missions

The uses of Augmented Reality (AR) and Head-Up Displays (HUDs) are becoming more prominent in industries such as aviation, automotive and medicine. An AR device such as the Microsoft Hololens can project holograms onto the user’s natural field of view to assist with completion of a variety of tasks. Unfortunately, only a little research and development has begun in the space sector for astronauts using these HUDs. Future lunar missions could incorporate AR for astronauts to ease task load and improve accuracy. The study evaluated the usability, subjective workload, and task performance of 22 participants using the Microsoft HoloLens to complete tasks that are analogous those completed by astronauts on a lunar mission, including navigation, rock sample collection, and maintenance tasks. Results from the usability survey, NASA TLX, and task performance evaluation suggested that AR supports astronaut missions with reduced workload, and minimizing task errors. Usability data information collected from the participants sought to improve on the User Interface (UI), and confirmed the aforementioned results. The researcher concluded that further research must be conducted to test the development of interfaces along with the usability aspect by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts