Seeing Earth from space might be the thrill of a lifetime. But what happens if anxiety hits when you鈥檙e in the darkness of space, far from home and everyone you know?
The StellarSync project proposes a digital twin of a clinical psychologist that would provide personalized psychological support to future space travelers.
A team 色花堂 graduate students and alums took on that question with StellarSync: Your Anchor Beyond Earth. Their project proposes a digital twin of a clinical psychologist that would provide personalized psychological support to future space travelers.
StellarSync won first place in the , hosted by . This competition asked students across disciplines to design an unforgettable guest experience for space tourists around the theme 鈥淟ife Support and Human Experience in Space Hospitality.鈥� The team saw a chance to make mental health and psychological well-being part of that experience from the start, since it鈥檚 a topic not normally discussed in conversations about .
鈥淎s space tourism continues to grow, we believe taking care of someone鈥檚 mental health should be just as important as ensuring their physical safety.鈥� 鈥� Jalyssa Cardell 鈥�15, UCF alum and licensed mental health counselor
鈥淪pace travel is an incredible opportunity, but we don鈥檛 always know how someone will emotionally respond to an experience they鈥檝e never had before,鈥� says Jalyssa Cardell 鈥�15, a licensed mental health counselor. Cardell earned her psychology degree from UCF and is now a graduate student in modeling and simulation. 鈥淓ven something as exciting as seeing Earth from space can come with unexpected feelings of anxiety, fear or isolation. As space tourism continues to grow, we believe taking care of someone鈥檚 mental health should be just as important as ensuring their physical safety.鈥�
Cardell and her teammates David Kirkendall, Daniela Martinez 鈥�26, Milouni Patel 鈥�24, Ritthikha Ragavan, Leighton Roberts 鈥�25 and Raajsria Thoppay 鈥�21 are students in the , which focuses on understanding interactions between humans and intelligent learning/training systems. UCF Pegasus Professor Roger Azevedo leads the lab and brings a background in psychology to his work in the . The students drew on their own backgrounds in psychology, artificial intelligence and simulation to develop StellarSync and apply it to the future of space travel.
鈥淓ach member brought something unique to StellarSync, and the project became stronger because of that collaboration,鈥� Cardell says. 鈥淲e also learned the importance of communicating complex research in a way that people from different backgrounds can understand and connect with.鈥�
The win surprised the team. Cardell says the students were already excited to be named one of the top three finalists. Now, with a winning white paper in hand, they plan to continue developing StellarSync.
鈥淲e put a lot of time, research and effort into this project, so seeing everything come together was such a rewarding experience for all of us,鈥� Cardell says.
