Microsoft's HoloLens to help NASA scientists explore Mars

NASA's OnSight tool, which it developed with Microsoft creates a simulation of Mars' surfaces scientists can use in their research.

IMAGE: NASA JPL

BY KARISSA BELLJAN 22, 2015

Of all the announcements Microsoft made during Wednesday's Windows 10 event, HoloLens, the company's new virtual reality headset, almost immediately dominated the news.

But it's not just gamers and developers who have ambitious plans for the device. NASA also plans to use the futuristic tech to allow scientists to explore the surface of Mars with its HoloLens-enabled software called OnSight.

Microsoft and NASA scientists at the organization's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California teamed up to create the software, which works in conjunction with the HoloLens.

Scientists who wear the headsets will see a holographic simulation of the surface of Mars based on data collected by NASA's Curiosity Rover. When multiple people use it at once they can interact with the Curiosity, the Martian landscape and each other.

"OnSight gives our rover scientists the ability to walk around and explore Mars right from their offices," Dave Lavery, NASA's program executive for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, said in a statement. 

"It fundamentally changes our perception of Mars, and how we understand the Mars environment surrounding the rover."

"It fundamentally changes our perception of Mars, and how we understand the Mars environment surrounding the rover."

This ability to experience Curiosity's environment will help inform the often complex decisions its scientists make. Decisions about when and where to use the rover's instruments, like when to drill or use a laser, must be made carefully, says Jeff Norris, JPL's project manager for OnSight.

"Controlling a robot on another planet is a huge challenge," Norris told Mashable. "Trying to understand the environment the rover is on from just a bunch of pictures, doesn't engage the full ability of a human to understand an environment."

NASA's OnSight will allow Curiosity's scientists to "explore" Mars with HoloLens headsets.

IMAGE: MICROSOFT

The software also adds gesture-based controls for Curiosity's instruments. Scientists are expected to interact with and adjust the rover's onboard instruments using the HoloLens.

JPL is slated to start testing OnSight with Curiosity this summer and hopes it will be ready to start controlling rovers on Mars with it by July. The software could also be used in future Mars-related missions. NASA is also looking at ways to open OnSight to the public in a way that would allow those outside of NASA's labs to have a similar experience as the scientists and researchers inside them, Norris said.

"We're excited about the potential to share this experience more broadly," he said. There's a lot of people out there who are really excited about this journey — humanity's journey — to Mars."

Updated January 22, at 4:18 p.m. PT with comments from Jeff Norris.

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share

Sign up here with your email