Mars Virtual Reality Software Wins NASA Award
A mixed-reality software that allows scientists and engineers to virtually walk on Mars has received NASA's 2018 Software of the Year Award.
A mixed-reality
software that allows scientists and engineers to virtually walk on Mars recently
received NASA's 2018 Software of the Year Award.OnSight uses
imagery from NASA's Curiosity rover to create an immersive 3D terrain model, allowing
users to wander the actual dunes and valleys explored by the robot. The
goal of the software, a collaboration between Microsoft and JPL'sOps Lab,
is to bring scientists closer to the experience of being in the field. Unlike
geologists on Earth, who can get up close and personal with the terrain they
study, Martian geologists have a harder time visualizing their environment
through 2D imagery from Mars.OnSight is mixed-reality software that allows scientists and engineers to virtually walk and meet on Mars. It was created by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in collaboration with Microsoft, for the HoloLens. The software won NASA's Software of the Year Award 2018."Feeling
like you're standing on Mars really gives you a different sense of Mars than just
looking at the pictures," said Parker Abercrombie, OnSight team lead. "And
I think it's a really powerful way to bring people to these places that they
physically can't visit.""Being
able to visualize Curiosity's drives and virtually walk them before we actually
do it with the rover is really helpful to give me a sense of how safe or
challenging the terrain will be," said Abigail Fraeman, a member of Curiosity's
science team.In addition to
studying the geology of Mars, the software allows scientists at any location to
"meet" on Mars with avatars that can walk, point and interact with
one another.These virtual
field trips help the science team study Martian geology using Curiosity data in
a collaborative setting. In the future, OnSight will be adapted for the Mars
2020 rover and could be applied to other extreme environments that are
difficult to visit."I feel
like OnSight has evolved into all these different subpaths," said Alice
Winter, a user-experience researcher for OnSight. "It's about the
scientists, but it's also about making the platform something that everyone can
access."The team is
working to make a version of the software available to the public. An exhibit
highlighting the OnSight experience, "Destination:
Mars," had a limited run at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Center in 2016. "Access Mars," a Google collaboration built on WebVR, was released on 2017 and runs on a desktop browser.NASA's Software of the Year of the Year Award honors the best software developed at NASA. "We are honored to receive this recognition and grateful for the investment that the institution has made in supporting this emerging technology," said Abercrombie.The following
teams were selected for honorable mention:Ames Research Center:NASA
     Task Load Index (TLX) iOSGlenn Research Center:LEWICE3DGoddard Space Flight Center:NASA
     Worldview and Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS)Langley Research Center: Assured
     Geo-Containment for Unmanned AircraftJohnson Space Center:JSC'sGeneral-Use
     Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS)