Astronauts share pictures of HoloLens from the International Space Station

As a part of NASA’s Sidekick project, two Microsoft HoloLens devices were sent to space through the resupply mission to the International Space Station. Today, astronauts at International Space Station shared pictures of them using Microsoft HoloLens. Check out their tweets below. HoloLens will help NASA in reducing crew training requirements and increase the efficiency at which astronauts can work in space.

To provide a little background on the project, Sidekick has two modes of operation. The first is “Remote Expert Mode,” which uses Skype, to allow a ground operator to see what a crew member sees, provide real-time guidance, and draw annotations into the crew member’s environment to coach him or her through a task. Until now, crew members have relied on written and voice instructions when performing complex repair tasks or experiments.

The second mode is “Procedure Mode,” which augments standalone procedures with animated holographic illustrations displayed on top of the objects with which the crew is interacting. This capability could lessen the amount of training that future crews will require and could be an invaluable resource for missions deep into our solar system, where communication delays complicate difficult operations.

This #saturdaymorning checked out the @Microsoft #HoloLens aboard @Space_Station! Wow! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/OZlWmzWjsY

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) February 20, 2016

Testing an advanced VR system to aid our work on #ISS. All going so well until we found the Alien Invaders game… pic.twitter.com/6bfHXrQsvY

— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) February 20, 2016