VibroLink: A Wireless Vibro-Auditory Transmission System to Improve Situational Awareness During EVA

Abstract

On earth, technicians rely on auditory or haptic cues, such as engine sounds and vibration, for a tacit understanding of complex machinery and its status. However, such vibrational cues are absent in space, potentially leaving astronauts unaware of safety-critical information about environmental changes during extravehicular activities (EVAs). This work-in-progress paper presents vibroLink, a concept for a standalone system designed to enhance situational awareness in spacewalks by wirelessly transmitting audio and vibration cues from machinery to the astronaut. Our approach employs a modular, two-component system: a transmitter (sensing) unit equipped with a piezo sensor that detects vibrations from machinery or other critical sources and a receiver unit with a vibrotactile actuator that can be attached, for example, to the astronaut’s helmet to replicate the detected vibrations. A preliminary evaluation with a proof-of-concept prototype shows that our concept successfully transmits basic tactile cues, and naive users can leverage their tacit understanding of actions and materiality to identify how the cues originated.