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MUSE: Designing Immersive Virtual Realities for Spaceflight UX Research

Authors Noora Archer , Pasquale Castellano , Aidan Cowley

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Subject Classification

ACM Subject Classification
  • Human-centered computing → Virtual reality
  • Human-centered computing → Usability testing
  • Human-centered computing → Scenario-based design
  • Human-centered computing → User centered design
Keywords
  • Virtual Reality
  • Spaceflight Simulation
  • Narrative Design
  • Game Design
  • Scenario Design
  • Immersive Experience

Metrics

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) provides unique opportunities for assessing early spacecraft design and usability by employing human-centered narrative and scenario-driven design methods. This paper details a narrative-focused VR simulation of a speculative spaceflight scenario, emphasizing narrative techniques for enhancing user immersion and user testing in evaluating operational usability aspects inside a spacecraft capsule. We designed a Modular User-centric Spaceflight Experience (MUSE) including a spacecraft capsule design and virtual mission scenario based on the findings and suggestions in Human Inspirator Co-Engineering (HICE) study. Results from user testing with MUSE underline the effectiveness and opportunities of narrative scenarios in early UX- evaluations in improving experience flow, operational understanding and user engagement. At the same time there remains several questions in defining best methodology to measure users insight and action motivation born from narrative immersion with the VR- experience.

Cite As Get BibTex

Noora Archer, Pasquale Castellano, and Aidan Cowley. MUSE: Designing Immersive Virtual Realities for Spaceflight UX Research. In Advancing Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration (SpaceCHI 2025). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 130, pp. 17:1-17:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025) https://doi.org/10.4230/OASIcs.SpaceCHI.2025.17

Author Details

Noora Archer
  • European Space Agency, Köln, Germany
Pasquale Castellano
  • European Space Agency, Köln, Germany
Aidan Cowley
  • European Space Agency, Köln, Germany

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Stefano Scolari and Tommy Nilsson for their contribution in the research leading into the publication. Stefano for his support in the interactions and software development of the VR experience, and Tommy for providing design support with 3D and visual elements for the VR experience.

References

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