A project we are currently involved in is creating an XR experience for astronaut training and mental health in space. IKSLab contributions to this experience currently begin with the overview effect of viewing the earth from space, then immerse the user in an intensely localised experience grounded in seasonal activity specific to a particular bioregion (e.g. fishing for mullet on the east coast). This will draw attention to seasonal indicators such as plants flowering and birds nesting or migrating, highlighting the symbioses of interdependent earth systems. This lens will then be directed back towards the night sky, to the seasonal patterns of astronomy that accompany the land-based activity. The user will experience an overview effect of their own location in space from that intensely localised and immersive point of view on earth, directing their attention to their surroundings in space with a more holistic observational lens.  

This approach is informed by an Indigenous analysis of Australian explorer narratives and journals, which are characterised by an inability of European explorers to notice the abundance and dynamic relations of the unfamiliar space they are exploring, often resulting in despair, starvation, and unnecessary peril and death. Paradoxically, it was their groundedness in the familiar places they had left behind that prevented them from adjusting their viewpoint for effective observation of unfamiliar systems. In this way, the Indigenous XR experience will leverage the overview effect to move beyond relaxation and mitigating homesickness, seeking to enhance observational capacity and mental health through connection to the astronaut’s locatedness in ‘Sky Country’, rather than mere escapist illusions of their home planet.

Long-duration space missions present health and well-being challenges associated with living and working in isolation. Despite a well-structured daily routine, many astronauts still report loneliness, disconnection, and boredom, which can affect astronaut performance and put the mission at risk. As participants in human space exploration are becoming more diverse, demonstrated also through NASA’s Artemis program and the recent 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Selection, it is essential to design personalised technology-supported well-being solutions to mitigate isolation on long-duration space missions. In order to address this multifaceted challenge, a transdisciplinary approach is required, with the core emphasis on bringing together HASS (humanities and social sciences) and STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) researchers, practitioners, and institutions to investigate how such human-centred technological solutions can be designed, developed and objectively evaluated using traditional and non-traditional (practice-based) research strategies in collaboration with potential users and subject-matter experts. Moreover, through a collaborative approach with the First Nations people on the team, the framework integrates Indigenous Knowledges.

Grounded in human-centered design principles, case study research, and discipline-specific strategies, we design immersive restorative natural and cultural heritage-based Extended Reality (XR) experiences to alleviate the effects of isolation on astronauts. The team of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) keepers and scholars will be leveraging the overview effect to immerse people in IK-informed macro to micro Virtual Reality (VR) experiences of terraphilic connectedness. They begin the process with ants and the ant view of natural systems, guiding an expansion of consciousness from the networked signalling of insects to the informatics of entire bioregions, then the bio-cultural flows from these lands, extending globally through winds, currents and the migration of whales, fish and birds. This scaling process of knowing, from a tiny ant to the very stars that signal their responses to seasonal changes in the landscape, will structure a highly visceral and life-changing experience to both comfort and inspire the user, wherever they are located in the time and space. This design concept informed by IK illustrates the practical implications to further inform the development of a transdisciplinary framework of processes for designing restorative immersive environments for humans on long-duration space missions as well as those in isolated environments on Earth.