One of the teams that took part in the Space Wearables: Fashion Designer to Astronauts challenge organized by NASA submitted a HUD display that had its direct source of inspiration the Pip-Boy 3000 from Fallout.
This is not exactly the first HUD inspired from video games that we get to see becoming a reality, nor is it the first one to draw inspiration from Fallout’s Pip-Boy 3000. Coincidentally or not, this Pip-3000-inspired 3D printed wearable is also some sort of iPhone mod, much like what UK DeviantArt member ~chanced1 created three years ago. However, the design is more actual, and so is the data collected and displayed on the HUD, considering that the device is meant for astronauts.
Team Reno explained on their submission page the reason behind designing a HUD like the one from their (presumably) favorite game: “We wanted to make a piece of popular science fiction into a reality so we chose the Pip-Boy 3000 from the game Fallout 3. The goal was to bring environmental sensors into an easy-to-use cuff device that could help a wearer determine if their environment is safe for navigation or helmet removal.”
Unlike HUDs from video games, the 3D printed prototype wearable designed by Team Reno displays data that is relevant to astronauts:
- Relative Humidity
- Altitude, Latitude and Longitude
- Atmospheric pressure
- Ambient temperature
- Object temperature using infared thermometer
- Radiation
- Real-time mapping
Since not all of this data could be collected by the iPhone 5 that acts as the brain of this wearable, the team relied on a Pinnoc.io microcontroller, a Texas Instruments BLE4 sensor tag and a home-built Geiger counter.
There are plans for future expanding the functionality of the Pip-Boy 3000 for astronauts: “We currently are simulating heartrate in the HUD but we want to add heartrate and other vital metrics to the app including Bluetooth heart rate monitor Bluetooth EEG monitor.
We intended to add some radio/comms features to the second screen but ran out of time. The goal is to add the ability for the Web HQ to push messages to each wearer. Users can then respond with simple push button responses like ‘All good,’ ‘Radio silence,’ etc.”
Needless to say, such a device would make an incredible accessory for astronauts, considering the diversity and the great amount of data that can be displayed.
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