As in Star Wars: NASA achieved the first space “holotransport”

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“Our human entity can travel outside the planet. Our physical body is not there. said NASA flight surgeon Dr. Joseph Schmid behind the first holoportation of Earth into space which was made on October 8, 2021 and just revealed this year by the space agency.

Through a statement, it was announced historical event in which seven people were “carried” to the International Space Station (IEE) without having to travel in a space rocket and leave planet Earth.

Before this event, space holoports were only existed in science fiction like Star Wars or Star Trek, however now they are a reality. Using the Microsoft Hololens Kinect camera and a personal computer with custom Aexa software, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet had a two-way conversation with live images of Schmid and Fernando De La Pena Llaca, CEO of AEXA Aerospace.

“This was the first holoportation handshake of Earth in space,” NASA said.

This capture technology, detailed NASA, allows reconstruct, compress, and stream live, real-time high-quality 3D models of people. By combining mixed reality displays like HoloLens, it allows users to see, hear and interact with remote participants in 3D as if they were in the same physical location.

Although since 2016 this holoport has been used by Microsoft, it is the first time that it is used in such a complicated and distant environment as the ISS in outer space.

“It is a new form of human exploration, where our human entity can travel outside the planet. Our physical body is not there, but our human entity is absolutely there,” Schmid said.

The scientist assured that it does not matter that the space station is traveling at 17,500 mph and in constant movement in orbit 250 miles above the Earth, since with holoportation the astronaut can go to the Space Station in a few minutes, talk and live with the other members of the crew. Or vice versa, it will bring the astronaut to Earth to visit his companions and family.

Although this modality emerged as an interest in 3D telemedicine to help keep astronauts healthy, it is showing that it can be a new form of communication: precursor to wider use in future missions.

“We will use this for our private medical conferences, private psychiatric conferences, private family conferences, and to bring VIPs to the space station to visit the astronauts.”

They also ensure that the next step of holoportation will be to combine it with augmented reality and later with haptics for purposes focused on teleauthoring.

“Imagine that you can bring the best instructor or the actual designer of a particularly complex technology right next to you wherever you are. […] They can work together on the device, like two of the best surgeons working during an operation. This would put everyone at ease knowing that the best team is working together on a critical piece of hardware,” said Schmid.

Also Holoportation and tools like it are anticipated to have major implications for the future of deep space travel., especially if the possibility of missions to Mars is planned. That is, they could be just as they have been presented in the movies.