Life On Mars? May Become Virtual Reality As NASA And Microsoft Team Up

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is teaming up with Microsoft Corporation to develop a new technology that will allow scientists to work virtually on Mars.

The American space agency hopes its experts will soon be able to explore the surface of Mars using Microsoft's new virtual reality headset, HoloLens, and a new software called OnSight.

In a statement, it explained that OnSight was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to give scientists a means to plan and conduct science operations on the Red Planet along with the Mars Curiosity Rover.

Dave Lavery, program executive for Mars Science Laboratory mission at NASA headquarters in Washington D.C., explained that the HoloLens-enabled OnSight software will give scientists the ability to walk around and explore Mars from their offices.

"It fundamentally changes our perception of Mars, and how we understand the Mars environment surrounding the rover," Lavery said in a statement posted on NASA's website.

Working in conjunction with HoloLens, OnSight will use data gathered by Mars' Curiosity Rover, extending the mission's existing planning tools by creating a 3-D simulation of the Martian environment "where scientists around the world can meet."

"The OnSight system uses holographic computing to overlay visual information and rover data into the user's field of view. Holographic computing blends a view of the physical world with computer-generated imagery to create a hybrid of real and virtual reality," NASA explained.

"To view this holographic realm, members of the Curiosity mission team don a Microsoft HoloLens device, which surrounds them with images from the rover's Martian field site," it added.

This will enable program scientists to examine the rover's worksite from a first-person perspective, which is crucial for planning new activities and previewing the results of their work firsthand.

JPL's OnSight project manager Jeff Norris said scientists can even stroll around the rocky surface or crouch down to examine rocky outcrops from different angles in a more human way.

"Previously, our Mars explorers have been stuck on one side of a computer screen. This tool gives them the ability to explore the rover's surroundings much as an Earth geologist would do field work here on our planet," Norris said.

"We believe OnSight will enhance the ways in which we explore Mars and share that journey of exploration with the world," he added.

Until now, rover operations required scientists to examine Mars imagery on a computer screen, and make inferences about what they are seeing. But images, even 3-D stereo views, lack a natural sense of depth that human vision employs to understand spatial relationships.

Mashable reported the software will also introduce gesture-based controls for Curiosity's instruments, which will let scientists interact with and adjust the rover's onboard instruments without touching their computers.

NASA also revealed that they will be testing OnSight With Curiosity this summer, hoping it will be ready to start controlling rovers on Mars with it by July.