* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, June 23, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

    ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’: Civic Players bring ‘Young Frankenstein’ to life – Yahoo

    Civic Players Deliver a Hilarious and Unforgettable Performance of ‘Young Frankenstein

    ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Amputee Wins $60,000 After Breaking Incredible ‘Curse’ – Hastings Tribune

    Wheel of Fortune’ Amputee Breaks Incredible ‘Curse’ to Win $60,000!

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    Safety concerns in Deep Ellum create apprehension as the entertainment district gains visitors – CBS News

    Safety Concerns Surge Amid Deep Ellum’s Booming Popularity and Growing Crowds

    Elisabeth Moss’ ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Emmy chances, by the numbers – Yahoo

    Elisabeth Moss’ ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Emmy chances, by the numbers – Yahoo

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Technology Convergence Report 2025 – The World Economic Forum

    Technology Convergence Report 2025 – The World Economic Forum

    How AI can help make cities work better for residents – MIT Technology Review

    How AI can help make cities work better for residents – MIT Technology Review

    Tech Champions with Leo Bletnitsky of Healthy Technology Solutions – Buzz Media Group

    Meet Tech Champion Leo Bletnitsky of Healthy Technology Solutions

    Crypto’s true revolution is about humanity, not technology – Cointelegraph

    Crypto’s Real Revolution: Transforming Humanity Beyond Technology

    $1 Billion Problem: New Technology Could Save Your Daily Cup of Coffee – SciTechDaily

    The $1 Billion Challenge: How New Technology Could Rescue Your Daily Cup of Coffee

    Canada’s construction industry gets serious about investing in technology as pressure mounts to do more with less – Yahoo Finance

    Canada’s Construction Industry Accelerates Tech Investments to Overcome Growing Challenges and Boost Efficiency

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

    ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’: Civic Players bring ‘Young Frankenstein’ to life – Yahoo

    Civic Players Deliver a Hilarious and Unforgettable Performance of ‘Young Frankenstein

    ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Amputee Wins $60,000 After Breaking Incredible ‘Curse’ – Hastings Tribune

    Wheel of Fortune’ Amputee Breaks Incredible ‘Curse’ to Win $60,000!

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    Safety concerns in Deep Ellum create apprehension as the entertainment district gains visitors – CBS News

    Safety Concerns Surge Amid Deep Ellum’s Booming Popularity and Growing Crowds

    Elisabeth Moss’ ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Emmy chances, by the numbers – Yahoo

    Elisabeth Moss’ ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Emmy chances, by the numbers – Yahoo

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Technology Convergence Report 2025 – The World Economic Forum

    Technology Convergence Report 2025 – The World Economic Forum

    How AI can help make cities work better for residents – MIT Technology Review

    How AI can help make cities work better for residents – MIT Technology Review

    Tech Champions with Leo Bletnitsky of Healthy Technology Solutions – Buzz Media Group

    Meet Tech Champion Leo Bletnitsky of Healthy Technology Solutions

    Crypto’s true revolution is about humanity, not technology – Cointelegraph

    Crypto’s Real Revolution: Transforming Humanity Beyond Technology

    $1 Billion Problem: New Technology Could Save Your Daily Cup of Coffee – SciTechDaily

    The $1 Billion Challenge: How New Technology Could Rescue Your Daily Cup of Coffee

    Canada’s construction industry gets serious about investing in technology as pressure mounts to do more with less – Yahoo Finance

    Canada’s Construction Industry Accelerates Tech Investments to Overcome Growing Challenges and Boost Efficiency

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

These high-tech buzzers may help astronauts avoid getting lost in space (video)

November 4, 2023
in Science
These high-tech buzzers may help astronauts avoid getting lost in space (video)
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

News

Tech

Wearable tech which alerts astronauts of dangers could one day help astronauts from getting lost in space, but it would require a trust for technology deeper than what humans currently have.

Researchers at Brandeis University in Massachusetts are developing devices which buzz like cellphones to give a tactile ‘nudge’ that can help wearers orient themselves correctly. The NASA-funded study shows the cues could help astronauts fight jolts of confusion, known to scientists as spatial disorientation, arising from temporarily obscured vision, like when flying through a thick layer of clouds or in zero gravity.

Spatial disorientation is the leading cause of fatal aircraft accidents, often traced to confused pilots making decisions by feel rather than fully trusting their instruments. These dangers apply to space travel too. When astronauts leave Earth, they lose crucial gravitational cues humans fundamentally rely on to orient themselves, causing a feeling of being adrift in space. Yet, constantly monitoring and interacting with automated systems in the spacecraft is crucial to maintain geographic awareness and a sense of speed is crucial during spaceflight, especially during controlled descents onto the moon or Mars.

“Our biology has not evolved to deal with aerospace conditions,” Vivekanand Vimal, a research scientist at Brandeis University where he experiments ways to train people to trust technology in space, told Space.com. “It wasn’t designed to deal with these weird maneuvers that otherwise are not experienced.”

Related: NASA’s Astrobee robot ‘Honey’ flies home to its International Space Station hive

a man wears a blindfold in a chair that is tilting him to the side

Vimal in the space chair during spaceflight analog experiments. (Image credit: Vivekanand Vimal/Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory/Brandeis University)

Wearable tech

The vibrating devices, or vibrotractors, developed by Vimal and his team provide cues via skin to the vestibular system, the apparatus in our inner ear which tells the brain the tilt of our head and helps to keep us on an even keel. Parts of the inner ear are home to hairlike cells crowned with tiny structures called otoliths. When we move, gravity pulls on these structures, transmitting cues to the brain how off we are from our balance.

Previous experiments of simulated moon landings had found participants couldn’t adjust seamlessly to the shift in gravity, causing them to perceive their vehicle was upright when in reality it was significantly tilted. If it pans out, Vimal says the new technology could transcend this limitation in human biology and be a useful countermeasure to spatial disorientation, when one loses sense of direction, including where “up” really is.

To figure out if their vibrations-inducing method could work in stressful circumstances, Vimal and his colleagues Alexander Panic, James Lackner and Paul DiZio created a disorienting environment by strapping people into a chair-like machine programmed to tip on either side without additional help. Across two days, 30 college students, shut off from receiving sensory inputs by being blindfolded and wearing noise canceling headsets, tried to stabilize the “space chair” using a joystick. 10 of them received specific training, 10 were strapped with the vibrating devices — four on each arm, and the remaining 10 received both.

For half the experiment, the space chair was positioned upright to mimic Earth’s gravity and participants could use their natural gravitational cues to accurately orient themselves. To simulate zero gravity conditions, the participants were placed on their backs while still sitting in the chair, at which point the otoliths could no longer help determine speed or tilt. One vibrating device buzzed when a participant strayed one degree from the balance point, two hummed at seven degrees, three at 15, and all four hissed at 31 degrees. If one drifted 60 degrees away, they were considered to have crashed.

“The hope was these vibrations could substitute the missing otolith cues and correct perceptual errors people were having,” said Vimal.

a man spins around in a chair

Vivekanand Vimald emonstrates the Multi-Axis Rotation System (MARS) chair, which he is using to study whether subjects can be trained to trust vibrational cues to locate themselves in space. (Image credit: Mike Lovett/Brandeis University)

The buzzing technology noticeably helped but was not enough to stop people from wildly oscillating and crashing by losing control of the space chair, even the subgroup who received some training, Vimal and his team found.

“The question really is that if you put these devices on the human, how do you become one with it?” he said. “Especially while disoriented, when you can’t even trust what’s inside your body, how then do you trust these external things?”

The findings point to a deeper, more fundamental conflict within humans, perhaps an inherent gut feeling preventing us from fully trusting technology to keep us away from danger. Participants said that while they were aware of and trusted the vibrotractors, their gut-level responses were often opposite to what the devices suggested. Vimal and his colleagues suspect the technology introduced a feeling of conflict within them which created confusion, sometimes causing incorrect split-second decisions.

“It turns out cognitive trust doesn’t mean that you’ll actually be able to rely on the device,” said Vimal. “You’re making gut-level decisions with the joystick trying to balance yourself, and to build that gut-level bond you need more than just cognitive trust.”

Why participants of this study couldn’t overcome the conflict and allow themselves to be fully guided by the vibrotractors remains an open question. To figure that out, Vimal said his team is exploring adding some sort of pressure cues to convey the visceral feeling of nearing a crash point. 

Specific training to build a bond between humans and the technology so they rely on vibrotractors once disoriented would help, he added. This could be done by having participants figure out random, pre-programmed balance points on the space chair using the device alone.

The study only considered a zero-gravity simulation, so researchers plan to follow it up with chair experiments that simulate the gravity astronauts would experience on the moon or Mars.

This research is described in a paper published Friday (Nov. 3) in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Sharmila is a Seattle-based science journalist. She found her love for astronomy in Carl Sagan’s The Pale Blue Dot and has been hooked ever since. She holds an MA in Journalism from Northeastern University and has been a contributing writer for Astronomy Magazine since 2017. Follow her on Twitter at @skuthunur.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Space.com – https://www.space.com/astronauts-wearable-tech-spatial-disorientation

Tags: High-TechscienceThese
Previous Post

7 scorching-hot exoplanets discovered circling the same star

Next Post

Smithsonian debuts 1st display of asteroid Bennu sample brought back by OSIRIS-REx

Senior Thesis Spotlight: Considering facets of human psychology from a data science point of view – Princeton University

Exploring Human Psychology Through the Lens of Data Science: A Senior Thesis Spotlight

June 23, 2025
Medieval gold ring found in castle in Slovakia has rare purple sapphire imported from Sri Lanka – Live Science

Stunning Rare Purple Sapphire Unearthed in Medieval Gold Ring at Slovakian Castle

June 23, 2025
Wisconsin man’s fraud scheme funded lavish lifestyle and over 300 snowmobiles, federal charges say – WPR

Wisconsin man’s fraud scheme funded lavish lifestyle and over 300 snowmobiles, federal charges say – WPR

June 23, 2025
2025 College World Series: Scores, bracket, complete results as LSU wins eighth national title in baseball – CBS Sports

LSU Secures Epic Eighth National Baseball Championship in 2025 College World Series Thriller

June 23, 2025
Top economist who previously sounded the alarm on tariffs sees a possible scenario where Trump ‘outsmarted all of us’ – Fortune

Top Economist Raises Alarming Question: Did Trump Outsmart Everyone on Tariffs?

June 23, 2025
Universal Health Services, Inc.’s (NYSE:UHS) Intrinsic Value Is Potentially 34% Above Its Share Price – Yahoo Finance

Universal Health Services’ True Value Could Be 34% Higher Than Its Current Share Price

June 22, 2025
Millennials taking control in Prince George’s County politics – WTOP

Millennials taking control in Prince George’s County politics – WTOP

June 22, 2025
Technology Convergence Report 2025 – The World Economic Forum

Technology Convergence Report 2025 – The World Economic Forum

June 22, 2025
Kingsley Coman reveals desire to stay at Bayern Munich – Yahoo Sports

Kingsley Coman reveals desire to stay at Bayern Munich – Yahoo Sports

June 22, 2025
What role will Pope Leo XIV play in the future of Laudato Si’ ecological action? – National Catholic Reporter

What role will Pope Leo XIV play in the future of Laudato Si’ ecological action? – National Catholic Reporter

June 22, 2025

Categories

Archives

June 2025
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« May    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (697)
  • Economy (712)
  • Entertainment (21,611)
  • General (15,518)
  • Health (9,753)
  • Lifestyle (717)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (715)
  • Politics (719)
  • Science (15,931)
  • Sports (21,208)
  • Technology (15,697)
  • World (692)

Recent News

Senior Thesis Spotlight: Considering facets of human psychology from a data science point of view – Princeton University

Exploring Human Psychology Through the Lens of Data Science: A Senior Thesis Spotlight

June 23, 2025
Medieval gold ring found in castle in Slovakia has rare purple sapphire imported from Sri Lanka – Live Science

Stunning Rare Purple Sapphire Unearthed in Medieval Gold Ring at Slovakian Castle

June 23, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version