From UbiComp to Universe—Moving Pervasive Computing Research Into Space Applications

Abstract

Humanity's burgeoning crewed and uncrewed presence in space is creating increasing opportunity for ideas and approaches gestated for terrestrial use to be adapted and deployed in space applications. To illustrate this from the perspective of the Pervasive Community, this article overviews a selection of recent and ongoing space-oriented projects in the MIT Media Lab's Responsive Environments Group, and chronicles the roots that most of them had in our prior Pervasive Computing research program. These projects involve wearables, smart fabrics, sensor networks, cross-reality systems, pervasive/reactive displays, microrobots, responsive space habitat interiors, and self-assembling systems for in-space infrastructure. Many of them have been tested in zero-gravity and suborbital flights, on the International Space Station, or will be deployed during an upcoming lunar mission. Assessed together, this portfolio of work points forward to the broad role that some of the tenets of Pervasive Computing (e.g., novel sensing technologies, “smart materials”, and best-in-class modern HCI infrastructure) will play in our near-term space future. This work marks an important inflection point in the space industry, where academic research experiments are rapidly maturing—on the scale of months, not years—to influence the products, tools, and human experiences in low earth orbit and beyond.