Prototype of a virtual reality test environment in a Lunar Agricultural Module for evaluating work processes

Kurzfassung

As humankind aims to return to the Moon and establish longer term infrastructure there, ensuring a reliable supply of fresh food becomes essential for supporting extended scientific missions. To address this need, greenhouse modules such as the Lunar Agricultural Module (LAM) have been investigated, explored and developed over the past years. A further step is to study astronaut behaviour under reduced gravity, which is simulated using a cable system attached above a physical mock-up of the LAM. To investigate how astronauts perform various tasks under these conditions, we developed an initial virtual reality (VR) prototype. This VR application allows users to carry out tasks within a virtual greenhouse module, including plant care, harvesting, and maintenance, with the potential to easily integrate additional or alternative tasks in the future. Moreover, we implemented functionality that enables alignment of the virtual LAM with its physical counterpart, to allow for haptic feedback. The application was developed using Unreal Engine and is demonstrated on the Meta Quest 3 extended-reality headset, the controllers of which are used for interaction. We conducted a pilot perceptual study with 24 participants to evaluate our application and identify key directions for further development. This pilot study lays the foundation for a future, more extensive investigation with astronaut participants.