According to Ron Garan, a retired astronaut, returning from the space feels like you are in a barrel and lasts about 23 minutes. Then, you crash really hard. Actually, when astronauts return back from space, they are tightly confined in a Soyuz, a rigid capsule.
According to experts, the human body works differently in space as compared to Earth. This is why astronaut’s bodies are badly disoriented when they return back to an environment with gravity. The human brain needs some time to compose itself.
Marissa Rosenberg, a NASA neuroscientist, has come forward with the solution of using VR-Virtual Reality headsets as a beneficial equipment to shorten the training and make astronauts able to deal with the problems of disorientation.
Rosenberg presented a research at PauseFest Conference in which she explained ‘Otolith Tilt Translation Reinterpretation’ (OTTR), one of the major aspect of disorientation. According to this theory, the human ear and brain lose their proper sense and function in space. The ear feels only linear translation and not the tilting motion and surprisingly, the brain doesn’t care.
The brain also dysfunctions while in space and for a while after they are back on earth. For example, if an astronaut wants to grab a cup of coffee, he will try zooming towards it. However, the distance will be the same and not shrink automatically. Also, if he would turn his head away, to him it would feel like he is moving when he actually isn’t.
As per Rosenberg, the brain regains its 70% strength within 24 hours and 98% over two weeks after landing. But what if humans had to land on Mars and come back? They won’t be able to pull themselves out of the capsule if they land in water. That’s why VR appears to be the perfect solution. Rosenberg has taken the problems with VR such as dizziness, disorientation and confusion, and plans to use it to her advantage.
She says that if astronauts are trained in a way that they know every aspect of auto kinetic illusion, they will able to walk and avoid falling soon after landing. VR helps people get used to certain conditions before they really experience them. So if there is a fire in the capsule at time of landing, the astronauts will already know how to tackle it.
VR is being used for simulation training in the military. If Rosenberg’s idea is approved, the concept can be further included in astronaut training. Scientists are further exploring VR for its potential outcomes. It can offer quite some advantage even in high cost, high insurance and high risk-type situations. Let’s see where VR is taken in further few years.
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