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Adaptive Learning Tools
Create a challenge that would drive development of systems that can train, assist, and guide users through complex tasks in real-time, especially in remote locations where expert help is unavailable.
Focus on defining the problem, not solving it. The solution topic you create will be the focus of student innovation efforts in the next 18 months.
The Ultimate Destination:
Advancing Human Presence Beyond Earth
Understanding why this matters helps you see the bigger picture and focus your topic on challenges that align with NASA’s mission.
Astronauts on the Moon and Mars will face a major challenge: performing complex repairs, scientific procedures, and emergency responses while isolated from Earth-based experts. Communication delays can reach 22 minutes one-way to Mars, making real-time consultation impossible for urgent decisions.
Current astronaut training takes two to three years per mission, yet astronauts still rely heavily on ground support for unfamiliar procedures. The International Space Station uses systems like Sidekick, where astronauts receive step-by-step instructions from Earth-based experts through augmented reality. This works in low-Earth orbit with minimal delay, but becomes impossible for deep space missions where crews must work independently.
Real-time generative guidance systems act as intelligent co-pilots that can observe what users are doing, understand their goals, and provide instant visual guidance. Instead of searching through manuals or waiting for help, crew members could point a camera at unfamiliar equipment and receive overlays showing which panel to access, which tool to use, and how to complete the repair, even for scenarios no one has trained for before.
NASA can test these systems during lunar operations first, where communication delays are only 1.3 to 2.6 seconds round-trip. This allows validation before Mars missions where crews are truly on their own.
These systems reduce training time by providing just-in-time instruction for thousands of scenarios that would be impractical to train for individually. They also let non-specialists perform tasks typically requiring experts, crucial when small crews must handle everything from medical emergencies to equipment repair to scientific research.
The Flight Plan:
Core Requirements for Mission Success
These six requirements highlight key factors your solution topic should address to build real-time generative guidance systems that work both in space and on Earth.
Context-Aware Visual Generation
Generate custom visual guidance (overlays, animations, instructions) in real-time based on live input, adapting to the specific equipment, environment, and user actions.
Multimodal Understanding and Intent Recognition
Combine computer vision, language processing, and sensor data to interpret user actions, identify objects, and predict next steps without explicit commands.
Verification and Safety Constraints
Validate instructions against safety protocols with escalation mechanisms for high-risk operations to prevent dangerous guidance.
Sub-200ms Latency Performance
Process sensor input and display guidance within conversational response time to maintain natural interaction during active tasks.
Procedural Knowledge Synthesis
Access and translate technical manuals and procedures into actionable visual guidance without requiring pre-made sequences.
Edge Computing and Offline Operation
Function with minimal or no internet connection, running on local hardware to support operations where communication is limited or unavailable.
Context-Aware Visual Generation
Generate custom visual guidance (overlays, animations, instructions) in real-time based on live input, adapting to the specific equipment, environment, and user actions.
Sub-200ms Latency Performance
Process sensor input and display guidance within conversational response time to maintain natural interaction during active tasks.
Multimodal Understanding and Intent Recognition
Combine computer vision, language processing, and sensor data to interpret user actions, identify objects, and predict next steps without explicit commands.
Procedural Knowledge Synthesis
Access and translate technical manuals and procedures into actionable visual guidance without requiring pre-made sequences.
Verification and Safety Constraints
Validate instructions against safety protocols with escalation mechanisms for high-risk operations to prevent dangerous guidance.
Edge Computing and Offline Operation
Function with minimal or no internet connection, running on local hardware to support operations where communication is limited or unavailable.
Ground-Level Relevance:
Driving Change for Earth, First
How does your topic create meaningful change? The most compelling solution topics bridge the needs of Earth and the demands of space, offering scalable, impactful answers to humanity's biggest challenges. Before diving into feasibility, consider how your topic can shape the world today while paving the way for tomorrow.
Can it scale?
- Could this topic’s impact extend across different Earth regions or populations?
- Does it address universal needs or challenges that apply broadly?
Does it solve a major problem?
- Does your topic address a significant barrier to space exploration or human survival?
- Can it simultaneously solve pressing challenges on Earth, like resource scarcity or climate change?
Can it adapt?
- Is your topic flexible enough to work in diverse environments on Earth and eventually on Mars?
- Could it be modified or enhanced as technology evolves?
Will it inspire future work?
- Does your topic create a foundation for further innovation?
- Could it lead to spinoff technologies or applications?
The Feasibility Factor:
Turning Ideas Into Action
Is your topic realistic? Even the most transformative ideas need to be grounded in feasibility. This is about asking the practical questions. Great solution topics are ambitious but achievable within a defined scope.
Can measurable progress be made within 18 months?
Does it rely on existing tools and technology, or those likely available by 2027?
Is your topic specific, focused, and actionable?
Is it practical within budget, manpower, and material constraints?
Can it be scaled for use across regions or contexts?
Does it address a real-world problem with the potential for meaningful impact?
Potential markets
On Earth, generative guidance technologies address large markets where access to expertise, training efficiency, or operational independence creates significant value. These applications provide validation environments and revenue streams to mature the technology for NASA's space exploration needs.
1. DIY Home Repair and Appliance Maintenance
- Market Size: The global home improvement market exceeds $900 billion annually. The US appliance repair services market was valued at $5.6 billion in 2024. Over 130 million US households regularly undertake home improvement projects.
- Application: A consumer points their smartphone at a malfunctioning appliance. The system identifies the make and model, accesses technical documentation, and generates real-time AR overlays showing which screws to remove, which components to check, and how to execute the repair on that specific model.
- NASA Link: The same capability enabling astronauts to repair unfamiliar lunar equipment supports Earth consumers fixing appliances they've never opened. Both require systems that identify specific models, diagnose problems, and generate visual guidance for equipment encountered for the first time.
2. Remote Healthcare and Telemedicine Procedure Support
- Market Size: The global telemedicine market reached $87.4 billion in 2022 with projections to $286.2 billion by 2030. An estimated 77 million Americans live in medically underserved areas.
- Application: A general practitioner in a rural clinic faces a medical emergency requiring an unfamiliar procedure. Through AR guidance, the system provides real-time visual overlays on the field, highlighting anatomical landmarks, showing incision locations, and guiding instrument movements adapted to the specific patient anatomy.
- NASA Link: Just as astronauts must perform emergency medical procedures millions of miles from specialists, rural practitioners need guidance executing unfamiliar interventions. Communication latency challenges mirror those in space. Safety protocols developed for space medicine, where mistakes cannot be easily corrected, transfer directly to high-stakes Earth medical applications.
3. Industrial Maintenance and Field Service
- Market Size: The global industrial maintenance market exceeds $680 billion. Manufacturing faces 2.1 million positions expected to remain unfilled through 2030. Unplanned downtime costs industrial operations $50 billion annually.
- Application: A maintenance technician encounters an unfamiliar pump failure at a remote facility. Rather than waiting hours for a specialist, they use generative guidance to receive real-time visual instructions specific to that pump model and failure mode. The system identifies the equipment, determines the likely issue, and generates step-by-step repair guidance with safety warnings.
- NASA Link: Lunar base operations will require small crews to maintain diverse complex systems without specialized technicians for each system. Industrial applications face similar challenges with multi-skilled technicians servicing increasingly complex equipment across distributed facilities.
4. Skilled Trade Training and Workforce Development
- Market Size: The global corporate training market reached $366 billion in 2023. Over 650,000 construction positions remain unfilled in the US. Technical and vocational training enrollment has declined 40% since 2000 while demand increased.
- Application: An HVAC apprentice installing a complex system receives real-time feedback through AR glasses. The system observes their actions, identifies deviations from best practices, and provides immediate corrective guidance with visual demonstrations. It adapts to the specific installation challenges, building materials, and local codes.
- NASA Link: Training astronauts for every possible scenario is impossible, requiring just-in-time training and adaptive guidance. Similarly, skilled trades need systems that accelerate competency development by providing expert-level guidance during practice and early work.
5. Digital Accessibility and Adaptive Interfaces
- Market Size: Over 1.3 billion people worldwide experience significant disability. The global assistive technology market reached $26 billion in 2023 with projections to $46 billion by 2030.
- Application: A user with motor impairments and low vision attempts an online task but struggles with small buttons and cluttered layouts. A generative guidance system dynamically rewrites the interface in real-time, enlarging interactive elements, simplifying navigation, and reorganizing content based on the user's specific needs. The interface adapts continuously as context changes.
- NASA Link: Space habitats must accommodate crew members under stress, fatigued, or affected by microgravity with adaptive interfaces that remain usable despite physiological changes. Systems developed for space's harsh requirements exceed Earth accessibility standards.
6. Emergency Response and Disaster Relief
- Market Size: The global emergency medical services market reached $27.3 billion in 2023. Disaster response and humanitarian aid represent $31 billion in annual spending.
- Application: During a natural disaster with disrupted hospital communication, a firefighter with basic first aid training encounters a victim requiring advanced medical intervention. Generative guidance enables them to perform necessary procedures through step-by-step visual instructions adapted to the specific injuries and available equipment. The system functions offline, providing critical capability when communication infrastructure fails.
- NASA Link: Mars and lunar surface operations share characteristics with disaster scenarios: communication constraints, resource limitations, high stakes, and necessity for responders to handle unfamiliar situations independently. Robust offline operation and safety-critical decision support developed for space directly applies to disaster response.