Material Science Innovation, Spacesuits and “Electric Skin” are the Future of the Human-Computer Interface

In the spirit of the theme of OODAcon 2024—Convergence—we explore the intersection of the future of material science, space, and the human body as the form fact of HCI – human-computer interfaces) – aka “wearables.”  Recently, ~700 km above the Earth, the SpaceX Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Suit supported the Polaris Dawn crew in the vacuum of space during the first-ever commercial astronaut spacewalk. Meanwhile, back on earth, the recent Electric Skin at the Cambridge Science Festival was an “exploratory day of discovery and demonstration from the fashion, fabric, and wearable-tech worlds  – featuring the cutting-edge innovations that will define what we wear in the coming decades.”

Why is this Important?

1. 1. 1. The development of the SpaceX Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Suit and the execution of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk are important steps toward a scalable design for spacesuits on future long-duration missions.
      2. Wearables have always been in our research OODA Loop.
         • LVMH is one of the biggest companies in the world by revenue:  We have also been tracking the luxury fashion industry sector based on how the industry weathered the recent pandemic (with record revenues, durability, growth, and innovation – all the while other industry sectors were crippled by the economic impact of the pandemic). 
         • Current OODA Loop research hypothesis framing:  Are wearables the convergence of an essential human need, disposable income, and luxury spending – and the future of what is hot and what is not in the technology sector of the future?  
         • The revolution will not be televised; it will be wearable:  Based on research, anecdotal evidence, and experiential learning via demos, the OODA Loop team never underestimates the future of Meta, the Metaverse, and their “skunkworks” efforts RE: the future of wearable as the HCI of the future.
         • The tough problems of the global refugee crisis, displacement caused by the climate crisis, and new global heat and cold conditions for human survival are collective drivers of the future of material science innovation and wearables.  
      3. Convergence is about merging and integrating different capabilities, ideas, technologies, and business models to create new value, invent new technologies, or disrupt existing systems. At OODAcon 2024, we will look to identify non-obvious convergence and understand and predict the impact that these collisions will have in business, civil society, and scientific domains.

What Next? 

The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Suit

SpaceX notes:  Evolved from the Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit, the EVA suit provides greater mobility, a state-of-the-art helmet Heads-Up Display (HUD) and camera, new thermal management textiles, and materials borrowed from Falcon’s interstage and Dragon’s trunk. Building a base on the Moon and a city on Mars will require millions of spacesuits. The development of this suit and the execution of the spacewalk will be important steps toward a scalable design for spacesuits on future long-duration missions as life becomes multi-planetary.