What Studying Office Work Can Teach Us About Deep Space Robotics
Channel: Scott Davidoff
Date: 2021-07-21

Deep space and office cubicles have more in common than you think.

Whether computing in the extremes of pressure, temperature, and radiation of space, or in the workplace, computing applications face the same fundamental bottleneck—the human. Designers of deep space robotics systems need to overcome the same fundamental human problems of asynchronous communication, spatial (dis-)orientation, more data than bandwidth or attention. This talk describes how the lessons that human-computer interaction draws from workplace collaboration to inform the design of natural user interfaces for tele-operation of complex space robots. I provide examples of how applications of HCI methods like rapid prototyping, and speed dating, are contributing to our exploration of the solar system, from the surface of Mars, to the development of future deep space missions.