C. Paige, D.D. Haddad, Trent Piercy, J. Todd, F. Ward, A. Ekblaw, D. Newman. "Development and user study of the Operational Geology in a Virtual Environment (OGIVE) platform." Acta Astronautica, Volume 224, 2024, Pages 17-36, ISSN 0094-5765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.07.043.

Abstract

As part of MIT's work with the Resources Exploration and Science of OUR Cosmic Environment (RESOURCE) project, in collaboration with NASA Ames and the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, we investigated the scientific and operational utility of a virtual reality (VR) environment for local, small-scale (<5 m) geological analysis in Lunar and planetary surface exploration missions. A user study was conducted where users explored real environments from Svalbard, Norway, represented in both VR and desktop applications, with the environments mirroring three field sites exhibiting geologic features found on both Earth and Mars. The study aimed to achieve four main objectives: 1) to evaluate if VR improves users' sense of scale, 2) to assess if VR facilitates easier identification of patterns and continuous features, 3) to determine if VR provides a more intuitive method for geological contextualization, and 4) to investigate if VR reduces workload during site exploration. The study, approved by MIT's Institutional Review Board, involved three stages: user training, testing without tools, and geological surveying with tools and fact sheets. Metrics included sense of scale improvement, ease of pattern identification, intuitive geological contextualization, and workload reduction, assessed through questionnaires and the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Twenty subjects participated, with tasks randomized across VR and desktop applications.

Drone-collected photogrammetry, and environmental data (temperature, humidity and pressure) were collected in Svalbard, Norway, from three distinct geological sites near Longyearbyen. Each site included a water-indicating feature and variation in scale from sub-centimeter to multi-meter.

Our comparative study revealed that the VR application provided users with a better sense of scale, improved ability to contextualize geological features, and reduced workload compared to the desktop application. However, while the VR environment enhanced geological contextualization, it showed no significant improvement in the identification of high-level features. We discuss influencing factors for these results and implications for future VR development in geological exploration and astronaut training.