The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras today announced a collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to develop a astronaut training module for Indian Spaceflight Programme.
A MoU was signed between ISRO and IIT Madras for collaboration on the application of Extended Reality (XR) and other technologies in Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. This training module will be created on the basis of Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR) / Mixed Reality (MR).
As per the collaboration guidelines, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) would utilise the advanced technologies created at the eXperiential Technology Innovation Centre (XTIC) at IIT Madras in order to promote Research and Development (R&D) in the field of Extended Reality.
The collaboration between IIT Madras and ISRO will lead to modelling and simulation of human physiology as well as space systems, outreach activities, visualisation and optimisation of design architecture, and training of ISRO scientists in developing their own XR systems.
Professor M. Manivannan, Principle Investigator of XTIC-IIT Madras, stated, “XR Technologies has the potential to add value in many aspects of human spaceflight program specifically in shortening the design cycle and simulating the space environment. We will start with developing models of physiological systems as well as design optimization studies. IIT Madras ecosystem is conducive not-only for research, but also for development with our industrial consortium.”