META-SPACE: Psycho-physiologically Adaptive and Personalized Virtual Reality System Promoting Wellbeing and Crew Cohesion in Space

Alexander Aroyo

University of Waterloo

During this pandemic we have experienced the devastating effects of isolation. Although astronauts undergo exhaustive training, psychological strain has been observed during space missions resulting in stress, home-sickness, anxiety, etc. Being confined with the same people poses challenges that could result in interpersonal antagonisms or sleeping problems. This effect could be also emphasized during long-term missions or Earth-out-of-view phenomenon.

The aim of our system is to alleviate some of those issues. A standalone VR headset with physiological sensors will be used to collect and integrate different inputs such as psycho-physiological signals, oculomotor patterns, voice, and behavioral actions. Afterwards, an adaptive model will process and analyze the signals to detect specific psychological states (e.g., stress, fatigue). Finally, the system will stream personalized content (user’s favorite Earth locations or revisiting family/friends memories) or provide individual games for entertainment and training. The system will also allow the integration of other crew members in the same VR.

The expected result is to provide astronauts with a tool to escape the feeling of isolation, to promote positive wellbeing timely delivered, and to boost crew cohesion and teamwork.