Towards Sustainable XR-based Space Exploration Research Framework
A Research Proposal of a New Polish Contribution to
ESA E3P/Terrae Novae Exploratory Programme
Feb. 2022, updated Dec. 2022
Context of the ALPHA-XR
ALPHA-XR is a new long-term proposal for a transdisciplinary research framework programme that fits in the Strategic Innovation Area of Human and Robotic Exploration also known as Terrae Novae programme. It is a joint initiative of leading laboratories belonging to the HASE (Human Aspects in Science and Engineering) research group. Its formulation coincides with the 10th anniversary of Poland joining ESA.
Our proposal is based on the combined strength of leading Polish research laboratories in the broad transdisciplinary field of human-machine interaction (HMI). It utilises the existing advanced research infrastructure of their mother institutions and universities as well as existing and planned facilities. Although core human and infrastructural resources of our proposal are located in Poland, and therefore constitute a new area of Polish contribution to space research, based on our network of cooperation they naturally fit into the European and international context and can be easily scaled up to to make a promising foundation for this long-term international programme. This programme could become one of the pillars of Polish national contribution to the ESA research activity landscape in the coming years, as it is connected with several crucial aspects of research activity undertaken by ESA SciSpacE, part of E3P/Terrae Novae envelope or Topical Teams as well as current endeavours of ESA European Astronaut Center, in particular its specialised unit – XR Lab.
It will be also complementary to other crucial pillars of ESA research activity including Ground-based facilities programme, Concordia and Gateway. In particular ALPHA-XR will strengthen ESA’s research potential in the field of independent long-term basic human factor studies, both individual and crew as it is complementary to EAC training activities, including VR immersive environments developed by ESA EAC XR Lab in cooperation with NASA. It explores the opportunity to conduct human factors studies in ICE (isolated, confined and extreme) conditions irrespective of both: diverse research conditions in existing facilities as well as actual availability of the facilities to research teams from ESA member countries.
Our ALPHA-XR programme proposal, that stands for Agile Longitudinal Psychophysiological Assessment in eXtended Reality directly relates to the updated Roadmap 9 of SciSpacE Human Research also known as Terrae Novae programme in the domain related to isolation and confinement challenges, in particular to individual and crew well-being and performance. This proposal also relates to one of the most recent Topical Teams: Space Analogues and Human Performance.
Main goal
The main goal of ALPHA-XR is to further develop and utilise a sustainable and reliable immersive research environment for evidence-based transdisciplinary longitudinal studies in ICE conditions of manned space simulations using mixed research methods and multimodal data triangulation. These would include psychophysiological and environmental data paired with data from validated questionnaires acquired in controlled ecological validity conditions supported by the use of mixed reality continuum, including real and virtual highly immersive environments. This technology allows researchers to virtualize the research and training space, making it independent of diverse conditions (equipment, architecture, training) in different facilities, e.g. analog habitats. In this way, research with fewer participants, who are spread across habitats in different countries becomes more controlled, and replicable. In parallel to the solid research foundation of ALPHA-XR, this framework, with its developed methods and tools, including immersive XR environments and human-machine and human-to-human interactions is also intended to directly contribute to practical aspects of intervention and training activities that may support existing and planned schemes for comprehensive astronaut training and support e.g. psychological interventions to decrease negative effects of ICE conditions, both on Earth and in space
Moreover, findings and outcomes of our endeavours in the area of space exploration can also directly contribute back to the problems and challenges here on Earth, in isolation conditions due to pandemic or other factors specific to various social groups and circumstances, including older adults, impaired persons and other groups usually excluded from being beneficiaries of the main technological discourse.
Key strengths
Key strengths of the ALPHA-XRproposal are based on leading human-to-machine and human-to-human interaction scientific laboratories’ network in Poland, EU and beyond that enables:
- transdisciplinarity, from science and engineering to art and social sciences based on true multifaceted approach and the acquisition and analysis of multimodal data,
- openness to non-standard solutions based on distributed living lab approach and participatory approach,
- creativity based on reality – ecological validity based on scalable mixed reality continuum from real physical habitat through augmentation to complete virtual environments thanks to XR/VR/AR technologies,
- reliability and replicability based on already existing research cooperation and advanced infrastructure, including virtualization of various key elements of the research and training space of a diverse network of existing and planned habitats and facilities..
Transdisciplinary research outline
Core research area relates to Roadmap 9 of SciSpacE Human Research domain encompassing isolation and confinement challenges, in particular individual and crew well-being and support for cognitive functions to decrease negative effects of ICE conditions. The starting point of the long-term research programme, that may lead to further advanced studies, is currently based on an evidence-based multidisciplinary and multimodal psychological foundation in main fundamental research topics:
- identification and detection of key factors that influence emotional regulation and well-being affecting also executive and attentional functions,
- providing effective ways of monitoring emotional regulation and well-being in order to keep their optimal level and prevent lowering individual and crew skills, executive performance and well-being,
- supporting human attention, perception and just-in-time learning in ICE conditions with XR solutions, based on the aforementioned monitoring methods
with the use of multimodal and synchronized measurements (including self-reported momentary assessment, longitudinal psychophysiological data (including pupilar and cardiac activity) and environmental data (including abnormal patterns) and advanced eXtended, Virtual and Augmented Reality tools that combined constitute the Mixed Reality Continuum.
Main rationale for the above transdisciplinary topics is based on important aspects of long term crew missions: sensory deprivation and social isolation paired with limited privacy, crowding and expectations of high workload and performance excellence which might be affected by emotional regulation and well-being. Impaired emotional regulation and social isolation can negatively affect executive and attentional functioning and therefore negatively impact individual and crew skills, performance, efficiency as well as well-being.
Identifying key factors impacting their severity as well as choosing and developing methods to counteract their negative effects requires long-term observation and measurements in ecological validity conditions. Neither regular laboratory experiments nor training routines are sufficient to properly induce social and individual factors in order to measure their interaction with executive and attentional functions that influence individual and crew skills and performance as well as well-being.
Therefore, we propose to establish an advanced transdisciplinary long-term research framework programme initially based on facilities existing in Poland and the strengths of Polish scientific teams as a starting point for a new research and development contribution to space exploration that will constitute in close cooperation with space agencies and industry institutions, including POLSA and ESA.
This research later can be scaled up within all ESA member states and beyond, giving ESA, POLSA and other national agencies and institutions a new opportunity to establish another promising area of direct research and development cooperation between various stakeholders, including scientists, entrepreneurs and early stage researchers using participatory approach as well as elements of citizen science. This collaboration could also influence the dissemination of results and body of knowledge for a larger audience.
Research capacity, feasibility and complementarity
Those objectives and key strengths are covered by the transdisciplinary research consortium in the framework of HASE (Human Aspects in Science and Engineering) group consisting of:
- XR Lab and other advanced labs of XR Center Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology (XRC PJAIT) located in Warsaw and operating in Gdansk and Bytom, together with advanced labs of R&D Center in Bytom, including Human Motion Lab, Human Facial Modelling Lab, Wearable Technologies Lab and Human Dynamics and Multimodal Interaction Lab equipped with unique infrastructure like CAREN platform.
- Emotion-Cognition Lab SWPS University, based in Warsaw and Katowice, dealing with emotional regulation, team dynamics and complex cognitive processes with the use of VR/XR tools developed in collaboration with XR Lab and other labs,
- VR and Psychophysiology Lab Institute of Psychology Polish Academy of Sciences, exploring issues related to social and environmental psychology underpinned with expertise in Mixed Reality tools and long term collaboration with XR Lab and other labs of the network,
- Laboratory of Interactive Technologies of the National Information Processing Institute – National Research Institute which, among others, explores HMI interactions with smart devices and immersive environments with XR Lab and other labs of our network.
Our ALPHA-XR proposal was formulated at the beginning of 2022, as a part of contribution of our HASE research initiative to the 10th anniversary of Polish membership in ESA. We hope it will grant our membership new opportunities that will strengthen the capacity of ESA and research teams from all member states. During this short period of time we have conducted interdisciplinary pilot projects and achieved promising early results related to our proposal, from exploratory research in ICE conditions using XR (XR-based analog mission) and study visit to ESA EAC to various living lab activities, including Space Hackathon and space exploration themed Game Jam, engaging students from various disciplines. Thanks to support from the Polish Ministry of Education and Science we have successfully initiated collaboration with key stakeholders including ESA EAC and its XR Lab, POLSA, Space Research Center PAS (CBK PAN) as well as partners from the ESA Topical Team on Space Analogs and Human Performance. Those endeavours are supported by our collaboration with providers of the industry and research state-of-the-art solutions, including Unreal Engine, Unity, Varjo or Biopac in the broad field of research and practical training applications including:
- XR-based research in ICE condition,
- XR-based interventions and training in ICE condition,
- XR-supported communication and cooperation including robotic interactions.
All those areas are also a part of joint research collaboration within ESA Topical Team on Space Analogs and Human Performance. They are also reflected in the expanding network of collaborating research teams, including new specialised labs at XR Center PJAIT that will facilitate sustainable long-term collaboration with ESA, POLSA and others, including labs from our HASE research initiative, as a core network of the ALPHA-XR framework programme.
Summary
The proposed research within the ALPHA-XR framework programme besides providing crucial scientific outcomes will also contribute to sustainable development and growth of ESA and its member states research capacity based on European resources and facilities that are complementary to other pillars of ESA research activities including Ground-based facilities programme, Concordia and Gateway. In particular ALPHA-XR provides a new contribution of Poland-based research teams and facilities that will strengthen ESA research potential for taking the leading position in the field of XR-based long-term human factors studies, both individual and crew as well as complementary contribution to already established EAC immersive astronaut training activities in cooperation with NASA. Therefore, it will also help to strengthen ESA research and training capacity by providing the opportunity to conduct human factors studies in ICE (isolated, confined and extreme) conditions in a virtualized space. This fact will also mitigate problems associated with access to and inequality of research conditions and equipment of currently available research facilities. ALPHA-XR’s direct contribution to the new and promising area of XR-based space long-term research and collaboration is in line with the long-term perspective of E3P or Terrae Novae exploratory programme. Therefore, it relates to not only Space Exploration aspects, as a part of our joint ESA-based investment for future prosperity, but also has the potential to benefit our life here on Earth, including vital aspects of isolation and pandemic constraints, of older adults and other vulnerable groups’ needs, usually underrepresented in the main technological discourse.