NASA MarsXR 2 Challenge

This is a new iteration of the previous Mars XR Challenge (2022). This new challenge version occurs in 2023.

We are calling on YOU, the crowd, to create and expand Virtual Reality (XR) research, development, and testing environments to help NASA prepare for the situations that will be encountered on Mars. If this sounds intriguing and exciting to you, then join the NASA MarsXR 2 Challenge today!

On behalf of NASA, Buendea, and Epic Games, this challenge is seeking the design and creation of new assets and scenarios for the new Mars XR Operations Support System (XOSS) environment, using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5. 

This new iteration of the challenge will have two phases – (1) a Storyboarding phase for outlining concepts, and (2) a Development phase for creating assets and scenarios. Solvers can submit to either phase alone, or to both phases. Phase 2, Development, will be informed by the winning solutions from Phase 1.

In Phase 2, you can also support our endeavor by creating additional assets and scenarios focused on particular extravehicular activities (EVA) that will be used to test mission procedures and plan for conditions while on Mars. The goal is to create an immersive, engaging, and realistic experience. 

The MarsXR Engine currently includes:

• Full Martian days, with the orange hues of day transitioning to blue at night.
• Realistic weather conditions and Martian gravity.
• 400 km² (approximately 154 miles²) of realistic, researched Mars terrain.
• Some existing assets, such as suits and rovers.

The total prize purse for this challenge is $70,000, shared between two phases. Additionally, Phase 2 winners will be invited to meet virtually with the NASA team developing the XOSS MarsXR system and may also be awarded some NASA swag.

Solvers may submit multiple entries to both Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Challenge Partners:

About Buendea

Buendea is a group dedicated to technical innovation and breakthroughs in real-time graphics for XR scenario, training, and education. Buendea is passionate about storytelling and creating new forms of shared experiences that bridge the physical and digital. 

About Unreal Engine

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D tool. Creators across games, film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, live events, simulation and other industries choose Unreal to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Follow @UnrealEngine and download Unreal for free at unrealengine.com. 

Background

NASA is always seeking novel ways to prepare astronauts for life and work in various settings, gravity levels, and environments. Massive water tanks and human centrifuge training simulators have previously been employed in testing and training programs. But these methods are costly to develop and maintain, and may not always adequately prepare astronauts for every experience they will encounter on a mission.

Virtual reality was first used experimentally in the early 1990s, and it has now become an integral part of how NASA conducts research and developmental testing to support astronauts for space missions. The Human Physiology, Performance, Protection & Operations Laboratory (H-3PO) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is developing an XR exploration surface analog known as, “Assessments of Physiology And Cognition in Hybrid-reality Environments” (APACHE). The goal of APACHE is to create a planetary exploration EVA scenario environment that provides a representative physical and cognitive workload approximation using a combination of virtual reality (XR), physical reality, and hybrid reality (HR) techniques. XR Operations Support System (XOSS) is one of the primary XR environments that is employed within the APACHE testbed. APACHE can support multiple EV crew members in the HR environment, working in tandem.

Future iterations and testing within APACHE will include biosensor-driven informatics, such as real-time heart rate monitoring and/or derived values from crew state physiologic models, objective quantifications of the cognitive workload of subjects, and comparative performance measures using validated methods such as psychophysiometrics. This physiologically-derived data may be visualized and used to help plan and execute EVAs while preserving astronauts’ health and performance. 

Mission Information

Mission Aim: As humans, we are explorers at heart, and the search for life elsewhere has driven our desire to explore another planet. The success of the first human missions to Mars will require a sustained effort of stunning technical and operational complexity. With Mars being over 140 million miles from Earth, all the challenges of exploring are compounded by the distance and dealing with situations without real-time support from Earth.

Ongoing research has identified over one thousand tasks that are likely needed to be performed during early human expeditions to Mars. It is unrealistic to build all the necessary training elements for these tasks, but using virtual reality we can evaluate some aspects of future missions, such as the optimal size of the crews, what procedures will enable crew health and performance, and what equipment the crew will need to take on each mission.

Phase 1 of this challenge is seeking storyboard ideas for new scenarios and assets in the Mars XR mission. Phase 2 is looking for developers to create new assets and scenarios to create realistic research, development, and testing environments for NASA test subjects to give them an immersive experience that can be updated and modified with new hardware and software solutions and physical equipment as they are created.

Definitions

Please note that throughout the challenge guidelines you will see the following terms used:

• Scenarios refer to the goal an XR user is attempting to achieve, inside the XR experience, and the environment in which the user is operating it. For example, a scenario for this challenge is, “Using excavation equipment, dig a trench from the habitat to a nearby greenhouse.”
• Assets refer to objects used in an XR experience. In the example provided above, the assets would be considered the excavation equipment (something interactive and manipulable) and the habitat/greenhouse (which may be more static). A complete scenario will likely require the use or creation of multiple assets.
• Elements are a general way of speaking about both Assets and Scenarios. In the judging criteria a question exists on the number of Elements captured in the storyboard and this is a collective way of referring to assets, scenarios, and the descriptors used for both.
• Metrics refer to the measurability of human and task performance when a user is in the XR experience. Examples of things that can be measured typically in an XR experience include
  • Human Performance Metrics
    • Time to complete a task
    • Number of errors while performing the task
  • Task Performance Metrics (Primary goals and subtasks achieved – hypothetical examples)
    • Solar panels successfully deployed
    • Percentage of dust removed
    • Number of items repaired (in a maintenance scenario)
    • Length, width, depth of a trench dug

Awards:- $70,000

Deadline:- 31-03-2023

Take this challenge