The European Large Logistics Lander (EL3) is being designed to carry out cargo delivery missions in support of future lunar ground crews. The capacity of virtual reality (VR) to visualize and interactively simulate the unique lunar environment makes it a potentially powerful design tool during the early development stages of EL3,

Revived interest in lunar exploration is heralding a new generation of design solutions in support of human operations on the Moon. While space system design has traditionally been guided by prototype deployments in analogue studies, the resource-intensive nature of this approach has largely precluded application of proficient user-centered design (UCD) methods from human-computer interaction (HCI). This paper explores possible use of Virtual Reality (VR) to simulate analogue studies in lab settings and thereby bring to bear UCD in this otherwise engineering-dominated field. Drawing on the ongoing development of the European Large Logistics Lander, we have recreated a prospective lunar operational scenario in VR and evaluated it with a group of astronauts and space experts (n=20). Our qualitative findings demonstrate the efficacy of VR in facilitating UCD, enabling efficient contextual inquiries and improving project team coordination. We conclude by proposing future directions to further exploit VR in lunar systems design. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Virtual reality; Human computer interaction (HCI).

No abstract

Haptic guidance in teleoperation (e.g. of robotic systems) is a pioneering approach to successfully combine automation and human competencies. In the current user study, various forms of haptic guidance were evaluated in terms of user performance and experience. Twenty-six participants completed an obstacle avoidance task and a peg-in-hole task in a virtual environment using a seven DoF force feedback device. Three types of haptic guidance (translational, rotational, combination of both, i.e. 6 DoF) and three guidance forces and torques (stiffnesses) were compared. Moreover, a secondary task paradigm was utilized to explore the effects of additional cognitive load. The results show that haptic guidance significantly improves performance (i.e. completion times, collision forces). Best results were obtained when the guidance forces were set to a medium or high value. Additionally, feelings of control were significantly increased during higher cognitive load conditions when being supported by translational haptic guidance.