Performance Risks During Surface Extravehicular Activity and Potential Mitigation Using Multimodal Displays

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Surface extravehicular activity (sEVA) will be a critical component of future human missions to the Moon. sEVA presents novel risks to astronaut crews not associated with microgravity operations due to fundamental differences in task demands, physiology, environment, and operations of working on the lunar surface. Multimodal spacesuit informatics displays have been proposed as a method of mitigating sEVA risk by increasing operator autonomy.METHODS: A formalized literature review was conducted. In total, 95 journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports were included. Characteristics of U.S. spacesuits were reviewed, ranging from the Apollo A7L to the xEMU Z-2.5. Multimodal display applications were then reviewed and assessed for their potential in aiding sEVA operations.RESULTS: Through literature review 25 performance impairments were identified. Performance impairments caused by the spacesuit represented the greatest number of sEVA challenges. Multimodal displays were mapped to impairments and approximately 36% of performance impairments could be aided by using display interfaces.DISCUSSION: Multimodal displays may provide additional benefits for alleviating performance impairments during sEVA. Utility of multimodal displays may be greater in certain performance impairment domains, such as spacesuit-related impairments.Zhang JY, Anderson AP. Performance risks during surface extravehicular activity and potential mitigation using multimodal displays. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2023; 94(1):34–41.

Adding Sound Transparency to a Spacesuit: Effect on Cognitive Performance in Females

“…have been proposed in diverse areas, such as hypercapnia prevention, thermal regulation, waste management, radiation shielding, and further injury prevention [11][12][13]. Solutions to mitigate sensory degradation have also been proposed via the use of various interfaces, such as multimodal screens [14], AR [15], new glove designs [16], and passive electrostimulation for haptic sensory substitution [17], among others. Compared to other solutions, sound design [18] has been an overlooked area that offers potential for improvement with minimal engineering drawbacks.…”

Adding Sound Transparency to a Spacesuit: Effect on Cognitive Performance in Females

“…Further efforts beyond ergonomics have been proposed in diverse areas, such as hypercapnia prevention, thermal regulation, waste management, radiation shielding, and further injury prevention [12] , [6] , [13] . Solutions to mitigate sensory degradation have also been proposed via the use of various interfaces, such as multimodal screens [14] , Augmented Reality [15] , new glove designs [16] , and passive electro-stimulation for haptic sensory substitution [17] , among others. Compared to other solutions such as haptics [18] , sound design [19] has been an overlooked area that offers potential for improvement with minimal engineering drawbacks.…”