Conceptualization and Implementation of an Assistance System for Greenhouses using Augmented Reality Technologies

Kurzfassung

One of Humanity’s greatest challenges is to venture beyond Earth, expanding into space and other planets while ensuring a stable supply of essentials like food, water, and oxygen. A plant-based diet is the most efficient way to guarantee a sufficient supply of nutrients. Thus, cultivating a habitat similar to future space colonization needs to be at the center of research. The Eden ISS greenhouse aims to analyze the prospects of plant cultivation under such conditions. To ensure the human crew can focus as much of their attention as possible on research, the care of plants must be as efficient as possible. One way to increase the efficiency of human labor is the application of augmented reality technologies. Research in similar agricultural as well as other fields suggests that augmented reality can have a positive effect on a person’s efficiency. This thesis aims to test the design and development of an application that assists the day-to-day work of the Eden ISS crew using the HoloLens 2 in combination with the Unity game engine. Following a previously proposed design, the applicability of HoloLens 2 and Unity to this problem was confirmed. The proposed design allows the help of the human crew through the supply of information and communication with external experts. The created application confirms the viability of the selected technologies and the design as a proof of concept but also provides a groundwork and tool to test the effects augmented reality will have on efficiency in the Eden ISS.