NASA Uses UE4 to Create Mixed Reality Training Modules to Simulate ISS

NASA is using Unreal Engine 4 to power an International Space Station simulator in mixed reality to train new astronauts. New habitats, maintenance procedures, and even more engineering of the station can all be simulated within the software. This type of training can save lives as the simulation is truly lifelike and stresses safety protocols. The closer that training is to the real thing, the more familiarity with the real ISS that the trainee gains by interacting with the mock up. NASA has fully embraced virtual reality and mixed reality at the agency. While Unreal Engine 4 is helping the astronauts familiarize themselves with working on the ISS; Unreal Engine's Director of Enterprise Simon Jones sees more applications and usage for their software in other fields. He lists things such as being able to create models of highly detailed areas in the software instead of desktop models, marketing opportunities using the software, embedding VR into engineering information strategies. And to think that we all thought of Unreal Engine as strictly a gamer's toy for over nearly twenty years. Simon Jones, Director of Unreal Engine Enterprise believes the NASA use of Unreal Engine and VR/MR is just the tip of the iceberg: "Development engineers can look at the execution of detail areas without having to make separate desktop models. Marketing specialists can create visuals before there is a prototype, or customer experiences that pre-sell before production. All of this means that organisations across a range of sectors are now looking at how they can embed VR within their engineering information strategy," he says. "So what started life as a high-end computer gaming technology has developed to become an application that accelerates innovation, drives new technology and creates incredible new opportunities." Discussion

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