Kinect eyed for astronaut fitness in space

From its roots as a gaming accessory, Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing device is going places - and space may soon be included in its itinerary.

 

A computer scientist at Eurecom in Alpes-Maritimes in France has developed a Kinect-based system that can "weigh" astronauts to keep them fit.

 

"(It is) something that you could easily put inside the walls of the space station (and) would free up the space for other equipment or experiments," computer scientist Carmelo Velardo, who said the system could simply be integrated into the station itself, said in an article on New Scientist.

 

Velardo and colleagues at the Italian Institute of Technology's Center for Human Space Robotics in Torino used the Kinect's depth-sensing ability to create a 3D model of an astronaut.

 

The team then ran calculations using a statistical model that links weight to body measurements based on a database of 28,000 people.

 

New Scientist said Velardo's estimates are 97 percent accurate, corresponding to an average error of just 2.7 kg - comparable to the current method used on board the International Space Station (ISS).

 

John Charles, chief scientist on NASA's human research programme in Houston, Texas, said the technique "appears feasible, although not without some effort."

 

Charles said that microgravity shifts water around inside astronauts' bodies, which means their density may not match the assumptions in the model.

 

He said combining the idea with the existing weighing system might prove more beneficial, as the Kinect measures body volume while the stool measures mass.

 

"The combination would provide insights into changes in body density that might be illuminating," Velardo added.

 

While the Kinect-based system has yet to be tested in space due to high costs of launching new equipment, Velardo hopes to try it out soon aboard a parabolic aircraft flight that simulates the microgravity found in orbit.

 

He is to present the research at the Emerging Signal Processing Applications conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January.

 

The New Scientist article said spacefarers can lose up to 15 percent of their body mass during missions because their muscles atrophy due to lack of use.

 

To prevent such physical decline, crew aboard the ISS typically spend two hours exercising per day.

 

But monitoring their weight in space is not easy, since traditional scales do not work in orbit.

 

American astronaut and doctor William Thornton came up with a way to measure objects using oscillating springs in 1965.

 

Thornton's method is still in use today, where astronauts mount a stool fitted with a spring that raises and lowers the stool at a frequency that depends on the mass it is acting against.

 

"The trouble is that this system is bulky and a lot of energy is required to power the moving stool, using up two of the space station's most limited resources," New Scientist said. — TJD, GMA News