Benefits of virtual reality and 3D visualizations for remote satellite supervisory control

Remote supervision is becoming an increasingly complex and important paradigm for satellite operations, especially as on-orbit servicing, maintenance, and assembly are becoming feasible. The limitations of current 2D dimensional displays, such as difficulties interpreting data, may present challenges for these operations. However, the use of virtual reality (VR) shows promise for direct control paradigms and has been positioned to provide benefits for other remote supervisory paradigms. This paper investigates the effects of immersive VR displays and 3D visualization for a display for a simulated satellite rendezvous mission. Three different displays are compared through human subject testing (n = 45) on performance, situation awareness (SA), workload, usability, and subjective utility. These displays include an immersive VR display, a computer display with 3D visualizations, and a traditional computer display with no 3D visualizations. The results show that VR and 3D visualizations improved performance on hard trials (p = 0.008), and had higher perceived utility (p = 0.006). No differences were found in participant’s SA, workload, and perceived usability. This research indicates that for remote satellite operations, it may be beneficial to include 3D visualizations, but that the additional inclusion of VR-based immersion may not significantly improve operations.