Inner Peace in Outer Space

Emotive Technology Design

In a demanding work or living environment, well designed machines and devices can help people more easily accomplish difficult tasks. As the work and living environment becomes increasingly automated, exceptional design is mandatory. In this case, mood-enhancing technology can also provide people with stress relief and emotional support.

Tools: Flash, Actionscript, PHP, MySQL, Photoshop, Audacity

Objective  In order to study the potential of emotive technology, I chose to look at an extreme example of human dependence on technology, a space station. While in space, astronauts are able to relax and unwind in many of the same ways as we do here on Earth. They read, exercise, watch movies, listen to music and call family members. However, the one thing they miss is the ability to open a window and listen to birds singing or the sound of wind in the trees. They live in a completely artificial environment and eventually they begin to miss the Earth's natural environment.

Concept  Human beings are terrestrial beings. From my preliminary research of astronaut interviews and NASA mission reports, I concluded that complete isolation from these terrestrial experiences will only sharpen this longing as space missions increase in duration. In response, my current concept explores creating unique and unexpected interactions within Earth-like natural settings, in an immersive interactive digital environment.

Design  In this environment, people begin to crave experiential and environmental novelty. My design, Earth Immerse, consists of collections of natural image and sound files that create an experience. In order to move through the experience, a person touches hotspot areas of the images. Elements of surprise are incorporated into the experiences, such as unexpected sounds or shifts to new areas of exploration. Because monotony of experience is an environmental stress in a space station, unexpected experiences are beneficial. The images and sounds that make up the experiences are stored in a database, which can be updated and personalized to meet the needs of each individual person.

Test  In order to test my concept, I created a Flash prototype of Earth Immerse. Inspired by NASA simulations, I recreated a confined "space habitat" and tested my prototype with 4 participants for 3 days. During the 3-day experiment, the participants remained in the "space habitat", followed a daily schedule, and used the Earth Immerse prototype. Based on the data gathered from participant responses to Earth Immerse, participant journals, and individual interviews, I found that an immersive, interactive digital experience had a greater positive, and more consistent, effect on participant mood than a passive experience. I conclude that Earth Immerse will benefit those in confined, monotonous environments.

Discussion Space missions are becoming more adventurous and require a greater investment of time and money. The future Moon Base is a reality, not science fiction, as is the subsequent human voyage to Mars. As these missions will be costly and dangerous, it is crucial to create human- centered habitable spaces to ensure the safety and well-being of the mission crew members and, consequently, the success of the missions.

Beyond uses in space stations, I see the potential for applications of Earth Immerse in other environments of short-term confinement, such as hospitals or submarines, and long-term confinement, such as psychiatric and correctional facilities.

Please feel free to contact me to read my research paper that documents my study and to see the Earth Immerse prototype:

:: technosugar@gmail.com