Neemo7 Resource CD: Objectives and Manuals
Background
The Neemo7 (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operative) mission is a joint project involving the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) at McMaster University, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. The primary focus of the mission was to demonstrate and evaluate new medical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies used in delivering remote medical care in an underwater habitat called Aquarius. This extreme hostile environment is analogous to human space flight and has been used by NASA in the training of space station astronauts and as a platform for research and technology development since 2001.
Challenge
The Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) at St. Joseph’s Hospital approached UrbanTwelve to produce an interactive CD for astronauts and aquanauts to use as an educational resource during the Nemmo7 mission. The CD was aimed to serve as an interactive manual detailing the objectives and technical procedures involved in the mission. The astronauts and aquanauts not only needed a physical copy of the manual, but also one available digitally that could call up information at an instant. Due to the educational nature of the project, information architecture and usability were highly emphasized so the CD would become a valuable resource for the astronauts and aquanauts. The highly technical nature of the mission and excitement stemming from the media attention called for excellent user experience and interactivity.
Solution
UrbanTwelve was able to transform the Neemo7 hardcopy manuals into a very simplistic yet robust package that was straightforward in concept and in use. Within a tight time frame, UrbanTwelve was able to provide a quick user interface and extremely intelligent navigation to help the astronauts and aquanauts find crucial and necessary information quickly. The CD was developed to run on all widely used platforms with various display settings.
Services: Brand Development, Creative Services & Marketing Support, Design & Development, Print Collatoral, Usability Testing
Results
The Neemo7 Mission was a complete success and finished on October, 24, 2004. The interactive CD is attributed with the success of Neemo7 as it was an important resource, assisting the astronauts and aquanauts throughout the entire mission. UrbanTwelve will be working on more elaborate solutions for upcoming collaborations between the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
