Finalists in the NASA S.U.I.T.S. Challenge

UW MHCI+D Cohort 10 students (left to right) Tavin Olarnsakul, Haichao Wang, Kelly Frost Davis.

MHCI+D is thrilled to announce that Tavin Olarnsakul, Haichao Wang, and Kelly Frost Davis, were finalists in NASA’s SUITS challenge, a student competition to design augmented reality (AR) displays for spacesuits.

Working alongside the UW Reality Lab and students from the Paul G. Allen School of Computer
Science & Engineering, as well as the Aeronautics & Astronautics program, the team developed
a spatial computing application for spacewalks. This application aims to improve astronaut
independence during Mars missions, given that continuous communication with Earth may not
be feasible.

Their innovation was showcased at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they
tested their prototype in the famous rock yard used for moonwalk simulations. Their stellar work has the potential to shape the evolution of NASA’s astronaut equipment.