NASA VR pays tribute to Stanley Kubrick

Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey may inspire future deep space missions to use VR.

Future deep space operations may take inspiration from Hal, the fictional AI antagonist from the 1968 film 2001; A Space Odyssey.

For years NASA had used VR to train astronauts, but never for actual inflight procedures - until now. Northrop Grumman and NASA's Johnson Space Center contracted the Houston-based multimedia studio Exhibitry to define future VR space operations. The Gateway VR Experience represents a “concept car” approach to demonstrating the usage and the value of deep space VR operations. 

Exhibitry developed the user experience for VR space robotics operations in a series of immersive mission simulations they created. The simulations served  as a technical evaluation tool for NASA astronauts and engineers to experience alternative interfaces for flight operations. The simulations also needed to appeal to a non-technical audience and be usable by non-scientists. 

Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001; A Space Odyssey, Exhibitry developed an omniscient computer voiceover to guide the user through each experience. “We chose to go with a non-homicidal Hal  that would be useful for Astronauts, and intriguing for non-technical users.” said Tracy Evans, president of Exhibitry. “The voice guide became a Narrated Procedure Log Display, or NPLD (NASA loves their acronyms), to serve as both an automated checklist for the astronauts, and a self-guided tutorial for everyone else.”

The Gateway VR Experience is currently being used for training and evaluation inside the full-size Gateway space station training vessel, also created by Exhibitry, in the famed Building 9 (Vehicle Mockup Facility) at Johnson Space center in Houston, Texas.