NASA “Holoported” doctor on the International Space Station

I have a new name for your vocabulary: Holoportation.

It’s a mix of “hologram” and “teleportation,” and while it may sound like it, it’s not just a niche science fiction term buried somewhere in Isaac Asimov’s novels and Star Trek episodes.

In October, NASA used this mind-boggling futuristic mechanism NASA Flight Surgeon Dr. Joseph Schmid has been brought to the International Space Station while safely cultivating it on our planet. No missiles necessary.

Joining Schmid on this trans-dimensional journey is Fernando de la Pena Laca, CEO of AEXA Aerospace, an organization that helped develop Holoportation equipment, and a few other team members.

“It’s an entirely new way of human exploration in which our human being is able to travel far from the planet,” Schmid said in a statement. “Our physical body is not there, but our human being certainly is.”

Although it’s almost unbelievable, Holoportation isn’t exactly a new technology. Microsoft came up with this idea several years ago, but its primary goal was Revolutionizing sectors such as advertising, ground hospital care, and education and since then The concept is steadily developing. But NASA’s recent efforts have taken the achievement to the next level.

This is the first time such a virtual transport has successfully brought people in beyond planet earth.

Here’s how it all happened.

Essentially, high-quality 3D models of Holoporters are developed, digitally compressed, transmitted and reconstructed in the space-borne laboratory – all in real time.

Meanwhile, a mixed-reality display aboard the International Space Station, Microsoft’s HoloLens, allowed both Holoportors and astronauts to see, hear and interact with each other as if they were in the same physical space. Astronaut Thomas Bisquet, for example, had a two-way conversation with Schmid and de la Pena in the middle of the International Space Station despite being miles and miles from the Holoporters.

So that the trio shook hands.

“We will use this at our private medical conferences, private psychiatry conferences, special family conferences and to bring VIPs to the space station for their visit with the astronauts,” NASA said in a statement.

Going forward, the agency intends to expand the scope of its system by adding an augmented reality function, which would give holoporters the option to truly move around the space station and observe objects as if they were really there. You might say everything but the physical touch.

This could aid in extraterrestrial telemedicine for astronauts, International Space Station construction projects, and even benefit greatly from future deep space exploration. The last bit is key, because standard wireless communications typically experience delays of up to 20 minutes when talking to systems in some way (way) out into the void. With Holoportation, Holoporters users can stay on board to communicate in real time.

“It doesn’t matter that the space station is traveling 17,500 miles per hour and constantly moving in an orbit 250 miles above Earth,” Schmid said. “The astronaut can come back in three minutes or three weeks, and with the system up and running, we’ll be right there in that spot, living on the space station.”

In addition, NASA says this could have direct applications on Earth, such as researchers working in extreme environments or specialists in military operations.

“Imagine that you can bring the best trainer or actual designer of a particularly complex technology by your side wherever you are working on it,” Schmid said. “You can work on the device together, just like two of the best surgeons working during the procedure. That should put everyone at ease knowing that the best team is working together on an important piece of hardware.”