NASA Doctor 'Holoported' to Space in Technology Experiment
2022-04-25
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1A doctor with the American space agency NASA has made a virtual visit to the International Space Station (ISS) after being "holoported" by technology.
2Dr. Josef Schmid and several other people took the virtual trip last October.
3NASA recently announced results of the experiment.
4The agency said it was the first time that humans had been "holoported" from Earth to space.
5The term holoport is a combination of the words hologram and teleport.
6A hologram is an image produced by a computer and made of light.
7Hologram objects appear in a shapely form, not flat like other images.
8Teleport means to travel extraordinarily fast using special technology.
9Such technology does not exist, however.
10Holoport technology can project 3D models of people in any environment.
11This permits people physically present in the environment to see, hear and interact with the holoported individuals.
12The experiment at the ISS involved a computer, camera and special software developed by NASA and its industry partner Aexa Aerospace.
13Special headsets enable people involved to interact with one another as if they were in the same shared space.
14The camera used was the Kinect model, made by American software company Microsoft.
15The camera can be combined with Microsoft's HoloLens 2 headset device.
16While Microsoft has been using holoportation technology for several years, NASA said it was the first time it had been used "in such an extreme and remote environment such as space."
17Similar technology has been used to assist doctors performing remote operations and in telemedicine.
18Telemedicine is a way for people to talk to doctors and receive health care without having to visit a medical office, treatment center or similar place.
19Schmid described the technology as "a completely new manner of human communication across vast distances."
20He said the process represents "a brand-new way of human exploration, where our human entity is able to travel off the planet."
21During the experiment, Schmid was able to speak with Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency astronaut aboard the ISS.
22Aexa Aerospace chief Fernando De La Pena Llaca and several members of the company's technology team also took part in the holoportation event.
23NASA said the technology demonstrates a new form of communication it plans to use on future space missions.
24It could permit people on Earth to be holoported to space, as well as send astronauts on virtual visits to Earth.
25Schmid said the system could be used to hold private medical, psychiatric and family meetings and to virtually bring important people to the space station to visit astronauts.
26He added that the next step could be to combine holoportation with augmented reality technology.
27Augmented reality, or AR, is a technology that can project computer-created imagery onto headsets like the HoloLens 2.
28The images appear in the headsets along with other physical objects in the environment.
29AR has been used to help guide workers through complex industrial processes.
30"Imagine you can bring the best instructor or the actual designer of a particularly complex technology right beside you wherever you might be working on it," Schmid said.
31NASA said holoportation technology could greatly improve future missions into deep space.
32It said one of the most important uses could be to provide better and more personal communication between astronauts and people on Earth.
33The communication could be necessary for medical or mission support reasons.
34And, it could improve connectivity among astronauts in space and their families back home.
35But NASA noted one possible challenge that could happen in future, planned missions to Mars.
36Technology systems will have to find a way to effectively operate with communication delays of up to 20 minutes each way during travel to and from Mars.
37I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A doctor with the American space agency NASA has made a virtual visit to the International Space Station (ISS) after being "holoported" by technology. 2Dr. Josef Schmid and several other people took the virtual trip last October. NASA recently announced results of the experiment. 3The agency said it was the first time that humans had been "holoported" from Earth to space. The term holoport is a combination of the words hologram and teleport. 4A hologram is an image produced by a computer and made of light. Hologram objects appear in a shapely form, not flat like other images. Teleport means to travel extraordinarily fast using special technology. Such technology does not exist, however. 5Holoport technology can project 3D models of people in any environment. This permits people physically present in the environment to see, hear and interact with the holoported individuals. 6The experiment at the ISS involved a computer, camera and special software developed by NASA and its industry partner Aexa Aerospace. Special headsets enable people involved to interact with one another as if they were in the same shared space. 7The camera used was the Kinect model, made by American software company Microsoft. The camera can be combined with Microsoft's HoloLens 2 headset device. 8While Microsoft has been using holoportation technology for several years, NASA said it was the first time it had been used "in such an extreme and remote environment such as space." 9Similar technology has been used to assist doctors performing remote operations and in telemedicine. Telemedicine is a way for people to talk to doctors and receive health care without having to visit a medical office, treatment center or similar place. 10Schmid described the technology as "a completely new manner of human communication across vast distances." He said the process represents "a brand-new way of human exploration, where our human entity is able to travel off the planet." 11During the experiment, Schmid was able to speak with Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency astronaut aboard the ISS. Aexa Aerospace chief Fernando De La Pena Llaca and several members of the company's technology team also took part in the holoportation event. 12NASA said the technology demonstrates a new form of communication it plans to use on future space missions. It could permit people on Earth to be holoported to space, as well as send astronauts on virtual visits to Earth. 13Schmid said the system could be used to hold private medical, psychiatric and family meetings and to virtually bring important people to the space station to visit astronauts. He added that the next step could be to combine holoportation with augmented reality technology. 14Augmented reality, or AR, is a technology that can project computer-created imagery onto headsets like the HoloLens 2. The images appear in the headsets along with other physical objects in the environment. AR has been used to help guide workers through complex industrial processes. 15"Imagine you can bring the best instructor or the actual designer of a particularly complex technology right beside you wherever you might be working on it," Schmid said. 16NASA said holoportation technology could greatly improve future missions into deep space. It said one of the most important uses could be to provide better and more personal communication between astronauts and people on Earth. The communication could be necessary for medical or mission support reasons. And, it could improve connectivity among astronauts in space and their families back home. 17But NASA noted one possible challenge that could happen in future, planned missions to Mars. Technology systems will have to find a way to effectively operate with communication delays of up to 20 minutes each way during travel to and from Mars. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, Axiom Space, Aexa and Microsoft. 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 21________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23virtual - adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the internet 243D (three-dimensional) - adj. having or appearing to have length, depth and height 25remote - adj. happening a far distance away 26vast - adj. extremely large 27entity - n. something that exists apart from other things 28mission - n. an important project or trip, especially involving space travel 29psychiatric - adj. the study and treatment of mental illness 30challenge - n. a difficult task or problem; something that is hard to do