I2000, Nov. 1 to 3, will offer industry, business, community and education professionals an opportunity to discover NASA technologies and processes that might be applied to their own activities. NASA officials will be there to talk about how those technologies can be licensed for private-sector use.
Researchers agree that the sense of touch is underused in dynamic orientation.
TSAS uses tactile stimulators called tactors, essentially small vibrators linked to the craft s guidance system, on the torso and limbs. The tactor arrays provide an intuitive sense of orientation, distance and speed to the operator relative to the Earth or another object in the environment. TSAS reduces the visual demands and can help the operator s performance, especially when the workload is high. Exhibits and presentations at I2000 will offer information on how businesses can take advantage not only of the technology developed for the space program, but also the talents of space program scientists and engineers. Charlene Gilbert, I2000 chair, said the free event is an opportunity to share space technology and knowledge with people who can bring the benefits to a wide range of people on Earth.