Isolation and being confined in the same space for long periods of time is clearly a critical issue related to COVID-19 Pandemic. And while this is something new for all of us Earth citizens, it’s not the case for NASA Astronauts, where they have to be (very) far away from their loved ones for long periods of time. Several studies within NASA Human Research Program were held in order to detect the main hazards of Human Spaceflights, and scientists found out that isolation and confinement are some of them. Those hazards result in various negative outputs such as sleep disorders, depression, fatigue and decline in personal interaction. Many NASA Astronauts have been interviewed in this subject and some of their tips for dealing with isolation and confinement include Team Care and Communication. We believe this is useful advice to put into the creation of new technological approaches in order to turn some of the realities of quarantine into a positive experience for members of our society.
As we all know, SpaceApps is a collaborative and cooperative enterprise. That’s why we wanted to recreate that spirit into our team building. We all come from different backgrounds (3 designers, 1 developer, 1 engineer and 1 business administrator) but we all have the same North Star: To fuse all of our knowledge into creating solutions while having fun.
Even though we’ve made enormous progress in just one weekend, FUNMEET has a long way to go. We need a more extensive UX Research to make sure we respond people’s needs the best way we can. We want people to have a great playful experience in our web page and leave them with a smile on their face every time they finish their games. In terms of technologies, we need more knowledge or people specializing in WebRTC (Real Time Communications). A better understanding of technologies lead to a better project result. In terms of design, we had not enough Open Source tools and plugins to develop a more neat design responding to the project needs. By having an easy access to more technologies, we can exponentially increase the quality of final results and thus, exponentially increase the way things are progressing. On the psychological side, we plan to find ways to use an adaption of the Psycho-motor Vigilance Self Test NASA Astronauts use in the ISS, which seemed to lead to very interesting results within NASA Astronauts, with the support of local psychologists. While being online having a laugh with loved ones, for example, random challenges can pop up for all the group to complete (e.g. “All the party has to go outside” or “Joke time”). Another way to adapt the Self Test to our game could be when starting and finishing their time online, it can pop up a very intuitive question about “How you feel?” and it has to be answered by clicking into one of five cats representing different kind of emotions.
All in all, this pandemic was a wake up all for all world’s citizens to rethink the ways we communicate and relate with one another. To value human connection more than ever, to be grateful for all the people around us, to be mindful of all the progress we can make if we collaborate, cooperate and work together. History had let us know that together, we are better. And this will not be the exception.