This is an innovative solution to combat social isolation through an application that allows people to live alone or connect randomly with another person who is also using the app anywhere in the world and take a trip through space, to try to simulate the experience of the astronauts to see "the big picture" and connect with others, with the universe and with themselves.
The Nasa publication: “ Behavioral Issues Associated with isolation and Confinement: Review and Analysis of Astronaut Journals" found that “Work, Outside Communications, Adjustment, and Group Interaction, received 59% of all primary, secondary, and tertiary category assignments of journal statements”. For this reason, this application seeks to generate simple communication channels, to express emotions in a simple way with emoticons and to generate collaborative interactions with other people, in an entertainment environment, which is another of the variables pointed out in this study.
Although before Covid 19 there was no apparent physical distance, there was a distance between people at deeper levels. Space has always been a source of dreams and inspiration and we want to help people connect with technology by solving challenges and traveling collaboratively, while space makes us reflect, dream and help us be better.
One way to help mental health is the presence of images, music and relaxing messages. This, along with the sense of play and collaborative travel seeks to impact people.
Astronauts must face experiences of great isolation, but the experience of seeing the earth and the universe generates a mental change that today we also need to generate: “It's the uncanny sense of understanding the "big picture," and of feeling connected to and yet bigger than the intricate processes bubbling on Earth” (https://www.businessinsider.com/overview-effect-nasa-apollo8-perspective-awareness-space-2015-8)
We were inspired by all the stories that are happening of mental crisis and welfare in this age because of confinement and the importance of finding solutions to this. Seeing the issue of spatial isolation of one I thought how could an astronaut face this separation from other people and confinement, and how from this experience could contribute much to generate interactive and digital experiences.
One of the great challenges in this moment of humanity is to connect, and the theme of space helps us to feel the connection with something bigger, with others and with ourselves. To develop the solution, we read several of the articles on Isolation in the context of NASA. To develop the project we made a first prototype at UNITY with a multiplayer system at Photon.
As an achievement we have an identified solution that will allow to use the game in a serious way for through the analogy with the space trips and from the connection of people. As problems, we need to find resources at the level of images, sounds, messages, which we can identify from NASA resources to generate an emotional experience and impact on different levels to people.
Behavioral Issues Associated with isolation and Confinement: Review and Analysis of Astronaut Journals