HTC has come up with a unique idea to alleviate the loneliness of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by sending VR headsets to them. While many VR enthusiasts dream of exploring space or engaging in epic battles with the likes of Darth Vader, HTC aims to provide astronauts with a new form of entertainment beyond just staring out into the starry void.

Teaming up with XRHealth and Nord Space, an engineering firm, HTC is deploying its cutting-edge VIVE Focus 3 VR headsets to the ISS. This move is part of an ongoing mission to enhance the mental well-being of astronauts enduring extended missions in space. These headsets come pre-loaded with specially designed software tailored to the unique mental health needs of astronauts, ensuring they’re not merely used for leisure activities like a game of Walkabout Mini Golf (though that wouldn’t be a terrible idea).

The key innovation in these VR headsets is their adaptation for microgravity conditions, including advanced camera tracking technology and eye-tracking sensors, which serve to monitor and support astronauts’ mental health while they orbit in space. Furthermore, these headsets have been optimized to minimize alignment issues, reducing the risk of motion sickness — a critical concern when floating in space.

The first astronaut to benefit from this preventive mental health care via a VR headset will be Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen during his six-month stint as the space station’s commander. HTC underscores that astronauts often endure isolation for extended periods, spanning months and even years while stationed in space.

One pressing question revolves around internet connectivity for astronauts using VR headsets. After all, they’d undoubtedly want to stay connected with loved ones while immersed in their virtual experiences. In the past, the ISS’s internet speeds were akin to the slow dial-up connections of the mid-90s, but recent upgrades have boosted the station’s internet speeds to a respectable 600 megabits-per-second (Mbps), far surpassing the average download speed in the United States, which hovers around 135 Mbps. This robust connection should comfortably support even the most data-intensive VR applications.

These enhanced Vive Focus 3 headsets are set to embark on their journey to the ISS in the near future, although an exact arrival date remains unspecified. It’s worth highlighting the remarkable engineering feats required to make these headsets compatible with microgravity, given that many aspects of VR technology rely on Earth’s standard gravitational conditions.