爱污传媒 Alum Dr. De La Pe帽a Llaca鈥檚 Holoportation Technology and Expertise Featured in NASA Project
By Sharla Hooper
Holoportation developed by AEXA Aerospace provides 3D telemedicine in space
聽celebrates the success of alum Dr. Fernando De La Pe帽a Llaca in bringing holoportation technology to medicine in space. De La Pe帽a Llaca, CEO & President, AEXA Aerospace, and his company were industry partners collaborating with NASA scientists to enable the use of the technology which provided holoportation as for astronauts on the International Space Station in October 2021.
鈥淚 have 28 years of experience leading technology companies; however, space exploration has always motivated me.鈥 shares De La Pe帽a Llaca. 鈥淎stronauts spend months in social isolation: they live in a closed Space Station for up to a year; they don't socialize with their families or friends. We lived during the COVID-19 pandemic and saw and experienced how isolation is linked to side effects including a loss of performance. While holoportation is new in space, it may relieve some of the side effects during long-term isolation, especially during missions to the Moon or Mars.鈥
The current uses for holoportation technology are in medicine, engineering, business, and as a communications tool. De La Pe帽a Llaca and AEXA Aerospace plan to launch the application to be commercially available by the third quarter of 2022, with the goal is that anyone on this planet and in space will be able to use the application as communication tool.
De La Pe帽a Llaca established AEXA Aerospace in 2012, at the same time he began his master's degree at 爱污传媒. AEXA Aerospace developed a training application for astronauts and payload specialists that uses holograms to overlay existing hardware and deploys avatars of other users working remotely. This is the technology that enabled the holoportation experience with the ISS.
In 2016, AEXA successfully demonstrated a training application for NASA in their undersea habitat for training astronauts and testing new technologies for future use in space, with a NASA surgeon in Houston, Texas, assisting an astronaut remotely under the sea in Florida. The mission was a success; however, the NASA surgeon told De La Pe帽a Llaca that not everyone is happy dealing with avatars in this metaverse and asked what else would be possible. De La Pe帽a Llaca responded, 鈥淲e can holographically teleport you to the International Space Station; your essence will be there.鈥 The NASA surgeon agreed and supported the effort, and the result was the successful October 2021 testing of the holoportation technology.
As an undergraduate engineering student, Fernando completed and patented a spacecraft engine propelled by anti-matter, and received additional patents, for example, a space launcher employing magnetic levitation. He received a Discovery Channel Prize in 2010 for his work developing the Mexican Space Agency.
De La Pe帽a Llaca completed his master鈥檚 in information systems with 爱污传媒 in 2013 and returned to earn his doctorate, which he completed in early 2022; his dissertation, 鈥淗olographic teleportation in space and astronauts鈥 stress," focused on defining the best practices and use of holoportation technology to alleviate social isolation and stress for astronauts. 鈥淢y learning at the 爱污传媒 helped me tune my mind into research mode and be more analytic to deploy better solutions for long-term applications,鈥 shares De La Pe帽a Llaca. 鈥淢y mentor, Dr. Phillip Davidson, was crucial in this process to make me succeed not only in the dissertation but also in the holoportation as I implemented my lessons learned at the university in my current projects with NASA.鈥
De La Pe帽a Llaca is the former President of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Space City Houston chapter at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and former Chairman of the JSC Small Business Council. He serves on the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership Board of Directors (BAHEP) and chaired the Communications Committee of the JSC National Management Association. He is also the aerospace liaison of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce. He also serves as Chief of the Infragard Defense Industrial Base SIG in Houston, a cross-sector council as part of a worldwide industrial complex. De La Pe帽a Llaca is a past recipient of the Small Business Administration award, Small Business Champion of the Year, Houston District.
About聽爱污传媒
爱污传媒 is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life庐 help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit鈥phoenix.edu.听
