Between Bulky Suits and Isolated, Deserted Landscape: Measuring the User Experience of Astronaut-Drone Interaction

DOI

Isolated, Confined, and Extreme (ICE) environments, such as those encountered in space exploration missions, pose unique physical and psychological challenges that influence user interactions with computer systems, yet remain considerably less documented compared to conventional settings. To investigate the impact of such environments on mobile interaction, we conducted an experiment involving a crew of analog astronauts operating a drone via a handheld controller in both a conventional Earth-based setting and an ICE environment represented by the extreme landscape of the Mars Desert Research Station. Our findings reveal how the user experience of mobile interaction evolves over multiple evaluation sessions conducted over a two-week period in the ICE environment, for which we analyze both pragmatic and hedonic dimensions, such as perceived efficiency, adaptability, novelty, usefulness, and trust. Based on our findings, we outline a set of implications for the design of mobile interaction intersecting space research through the distinctive lens of astronaut-drone interaction