Problem Statement: In 2030, four astronauts’ lives will be risked during the voyage to Mars. They will be isolated from their familiar Earth environment for at least 900 days. Long term travel to Mars will create a lack of sensory stimulation as the astronauts will travel in a clinical environment, experiencing a limited variety of textures. Some effects of the lack of sensory stimulation are depression, hallucination, and anxiety. This can have detrimental effects on the astronauts and will jeopardize the overall success of the mission. Astronauts will need some sensory stimulation during the long duration space missions to protect them from the effects of sensory deprivation.

Our Solution: Develop personalized Haptic Socks to provide additional Earth like sensory stimulation. The socks will provide additional sensory stimulation to astronaut’s feet during long space travel by recreating familiar senses from Earth. The socks aim to relax astronauts and allow them to feel familiar textures such as wet sand and reduce the harmful effects of sensory deprivation. Astronauts will wear their personalized haptic sock in their Orion seat along with virtual reality to provide a full sensory stimulation experience.