Kristin Neidlinger of Sensoree was honored to be the Emotion Engineer and an analog astronaut for EMMIHS IV at HI-SEAS. This is a space simulation located at 8,200ft elevation on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, the biggest volcano on Earth. The crew of six international analog astronauts was sponsored by the European Space Agency – ESA (Europe’s NASA).
SENSOREE expressive tech for awareness, resilience, and interpersonal synchronization was studied. The Mood Sweater bioresponsive collar that translated excitement levels to a palette of five colors was studied to enhance connection. Thank you to the team for showing us how you feel!
Kristin running studies in the spacesuit.
It was synchronic timing to be in isolation on Hawaii at Hi-SEAS when Corona was declared a pandemic January 30, 2020. Our crew of six barely had wifi, but we heard news of cases rising daily around the globe. Upon coming back to Earth, we realized we had just been in a boot camp for maintaining mental wellbeing while in isolation with limited resources. As your friendly isolation consultant and emotion engineer, here are a few tips for self care and to help others.
- Be kind. Help each other. Work as a team.
- Self care. Take care of you first. Like on the airplane, put on your oxygen mask first, then help others.
- Stay calm. Keep emotions in check. Journal daily. Learn breathing exercises for calm.
- Gratitude exercises help! List ten things you are grateful for morning.
- Stay healthy. Take vitamins. Eat right. Cough in your elbow. Wash your hands.
- Keep it clean. Sanitize. Wipe down after use. Put it back where it came from.
- Take time to suit up. When outside on an EVA, we had to wear space suits and be protected from the environment. Once in the helmet there is no opportunity to touch your face for 2-4 hours. Take time to get ready.
- Keep track of your hours. Plan your day in the morning. At the end of the day, write down daily reports to send to mission control.
- One hour of exercise a day. Good for mental wellbeing and staying fit.
- Keep hydrated. Drink water. Nose spray, eye drops, and lotion keep the infections away.
- Save energy and resources. Be mindful of others on the team/planet. With only 8 minutes of shower allowed a week, learn to ration.
- Take inventory. Note supplies on hand like food and cleaning supplies. Ration to save resources. Get creative!
- Sorry no WiFi. Only once a day online and no bandwidth.
- Schedule down time. Do not forget to rest! Especially after a heightened state, rest is needed to recover the nervous system.
