The forms of communication and interaction between humans have been completely revolutionized with the arrival of different technologies such as the Internet. But now it is not only about breaking the barrier of time and space in terms of the immediacy of the arrival of messages, but the ‘holoportation’ that in addition to transporting messages, also carries the very essence of the human individual.
This technology has been predicted for decades in science fiction narratives such as Star Trek or Back to the Future but that, for the first time, has been tested in space by NASA, becoming the first ‘handshake’ between a human in space and a human from Earth.
NASA recently announced the first successful ‘holoportation’ between Earth and space for telemedicine purposes. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and virtual reality, a group of humans composed of NASA flight surgeon Dr. Josef Schmid and AEXA Aerospace CEO Fernando De La Peña Llaca and their teams were holographically transported from Earth to the International Space Station in real-time. These are the first humans “holoported” from Earth to space, an unprecedented milestone in the area of telecommunications.
What is holoportation?
As NASA’s Dr. Schmid describes it, “holoportation is a type of capture technology that allows high-quality 3D models of people to be reconstructed, compressed, and transmitted live in real-time”.
Not only is it a video call-like experience, since those being holoported are being filmed with a multi-camera set up in their actual location. In that sense, it is not just the exchange of audiovisual information, but a much more complex interaction experience.
When combined with mixed reality displays, it allows users to see, hear and interact with remote participants in 3D as if they were actually present in the same physical space. And despite the fact that this type of interaction has been in use since at least 2016 by Microsoft, this is the first time it has been used in an environment as extreme and remote as space.
A holographic conversation
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who is currently on the International Space Station, had the privilege of having the first two-way conversation with Schmid and members of his medical team via a hologram.
The conversation took place in real-time, with no delays in the transmission and reception of information. An extremely important fact considering that the International Space Station is located on the edge of the Earth space and the distance is highly considerable.
Normally there are delays in communications over such large distances, which is why scientists believe that ‘holoportation’ will completely revolutionize aerospace exploration. Just think of holoporting an astronaut to Mars in the blink of an eye, without having to wait for the 20-minute delay each way that it currently takes to send a message to the rovers on the Red Planet.
The next step, NASA says, is to combine holoportation with augmented reality to enable teletutorials and improve telemedicine. “Imagine being able to bring the best instructor or the actual designer of a particularly complex technology right next to you wherever you’re working on it,” Schmid suggests. In that sense, even if it’s not the body that travels, the very essence of the human entity can move into space and with that, find a solution to any problem that arises.
Story originally published in Ecoosfera