ANSIBLE: A Network of Social Interactions for Bilateral Life Enhancement

Studies in ground-based analogs of Isolated and Confined Environments (ICE) have identified sensory monotony and social isolation as threats to crew psychological well-being. Further, the lack of real-time communications in future missions will impact crew interactions with their support systems, i.e. family, friends, and colleagues, are critical. ANSIBLE (A Network of Social Interactions for Bilateral Life Enhancement) leverages evidence based strategies to 1) augment asynchronous communications using Virtual Environments (VEs) and facilitate novel interaction methods beyond email, 2) use the inherently immersive and stimuli rich nature of VEs to counteract sensory monotony, and 3) leverages VEs and intelligent Virtual Agents (VAs) as companions and advisors to combat social monotony and detect changes in astronaut psychosocial states can increase astronaut self-awareness, suggest countermeasures, and provide rehearsal scenarios to maintain and enhance interpersonal skills. Along with Dr. Morie, SIFT will leverage its prior work with human communication models and unobtrusive detection of psychosocial dimensions, to enhance VE and VA technologies. The resulting tool will advance the future social landscape that connects the flight crew with Earth, and can be used pre, during, and post flight to connect crew and ground, providing a sense of social consistency and permanence.