CANADA: NASA gears up to provide smart glasses to astronauts for the International Space Station. The government space agency has assigned the task to Osterhout Design Group. The ODG’s smart glasses would be utilized in future space mission of NASA for numerous purposes. The fundamental goal of the new project is to help astronauts in spacewalks and other tasks. The firm intends to begin testing of the smart glasses till the end of this year. Scientists have decided to carry out the trail in an undersea lab of NASA.
NASA wants to develop smart glasses for astronauts to use in future missions. The space agency plans to collaborate with Osterhout Design Group (ODG) to develop the device that will be used for “virtual reality and augmented reality applications” during various missions, including for repairs and other such mechanical tasks.
NASA, together with ODG, stated during a press release that these smart glasses should offer astronauts such possibilities as:“line of sight check lists”, direct support via telepresence and “the ability to overlay digital markers on machinery or equipment without the user needing keep eyes and hands focused in multiple arease.
ODG will use a technology based on sensors which analyze the surrounding environment, where the astronaut is looking and his movements. This technological idea isn’t novel as Google has been “playing” with it for years, in the development of its own Google Glass. Although smart glasses were designed for general public, the benefits it could bring astronauts are much greater.
