Development of alternative reality environments for spacecraft habitat design evaluation

Alternative reality (XR) tools are becoming more commonplace in the realm of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC); however, these digitally immersive technologies vary greatly in their degree of virtuality and individual capabilities. While many studies detail the performance of one specific XR technology for a particular use case, little work exists comparing numerous modern XR technologies in a side-by-side manner for a single use case. In this work, we construct four equal-fidelity, alternative reality environments for the application of spacecraft habitat design evaluation, starting with a baseline habitat mockup constructed in physical reality (PR). Three digital environments—augmented reality, hybrid reality (HR), and virtual reality—were modeled after the PR environment and developed in parallel. The implementation of each environment was carefully documented, along with relative strengths and weaknesses associated with both development and use. Additionally, we have developed a novel HR implementation that includes realistic and intuitive haptics, hand tracking, a fully virtual audiovisual scene, and responsive habitat elements, all wirelessly synched with a game engine and spatially synched with the PR environment. In sum, this work serves as a resource for those considering XR technologies for any variety of applications, particularly in AEC disciplines.