Challenge to solve
Traditional training methods in the aeronautic industry present different challenges. Zero-gravity training tends to be expensive, easily costing over 1,000 USD per minute. The duration of these training sessions is also limited, achieving weightlessness for only up to 12 minutes.
This can hinder the access that astronauts and pilots have to lengthy, adequate training sessions. The logistic implications of training are also complex — coordinating busy schedules, implementing strict safety protocols, and costly and time-consuming group commutes to air bases in remote locations are only a few examples.
Despite the challenges, optimal training is essential for pilots and astronauts, so that they are fully prepared to operate complex tools and navigate smoothly around space stations in zero-gravity environments.
Implementation of haptic gloves
Haptic technology was an ideal way to create an immersive and more efficient training environment, offering a virtual zero-gravity experience. Users were able to fully immerse themselves in a VR version of the space station and explore it through touch. They could move around the station and interact with objects, getting the actual feeling of the lab tools and equipment that they must handle with agility.
The results
With the SenseGlove Nova gloves, users could physically familiarize themselves with the space station and navigate around it just as they would in real-life, under zero-gravity conditions. The added layer of touch that haptics provide allowed them to not only interact with tools and other objects, but to actually feel them through the gloves’ force feedback. In this way, pilots and astronauts can receive safer, more efficient, and optimized training sessions for a fraction of the cost, all thanks to the use of haptic technology combined with VR.
