HCC:Small:Collaborative Research: Exploring the use of immersive virtual reality technologies for scientific research, communication, and outreach

HCC:Small：协作研究：探索沉浸式虚拟现实技术在科学研究、交流和推广中的应用

• 批准号: 0917816
• 负责人: Stephen McMillan
• 金额: $ 16.51万
• 依托单位: Drexel University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0917816&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HCC; Small; Collaborative; Research; Exploring

Abstract The goals of this study are to explore the utility of the emerging immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies and virtual worlds (VWs) for scientific and educational uses in the framework of astrophysics and related fields. This work will be done under the auspices of the Meta Institute for Computational Astrophysics (MICA), the first professional scientific organization based exclusively in VWs, representing an experiment in scientific organization and communication by itself. However, the results should be more broadly applicable to most other fields of science and scholarship. Demonstrating the potential and the utility of these emerging technologies to the academic community at large will help engage and facilitate a broader participation of scientists and educators in these developments. Specifically, the research will explore the following topics: (1) The uses of VWs as scientific collaboration and communication environments, ranging from individual and group discussions, to seminars and scientific conferences and workshops. (2) Novel ways of user interaction and interfacing with numerical simulations, in terms of the setup, adjustments, and interpretation of results, especially in an interactive/collaborative setting. (3) Immersive and interactive visualization of highly complex, multi-dimensional data sets, for a direct visual exploration, data mining, and as publishable presentations in electronic media. (4) Uses of WVs as a novel, interactive educational and public outreach platform. (5) An initial exploration of the data architectures and structures for the next generation of the Web with a VR user interface, and interaction of human avatars and intelligent software agents. (6) Investigate VW developments in the non-proprietary Opensim/Opengrid environments. This effort will develop new modalities of scientific research and communication using new VR and VWs technologies in the domain of astrophysics but having positive impacts for comparable fields of science as well. It can open qualitatively new ways in which scientists interact among themselves, with their data, and with their numerical simulations, and thus foster some genuine new "computational thinking" approaches to science and scholarship. Virtual worlds will become a platform to conduct rigorous research activities in the fields of computational astrophysics and data-intensive astronomy, seeking to determine the potential of these new technologies, as well as to develop a new set of best practices for scholarly and research activities enabled by them, and by a combination of the existing Web-based and the new VR technologies. The central idea behind this project is that immersive VR and VWs are potentially transformative technologies on par with the Web itself, which can and should be used for serious purposes, including science and scholarship. By conveying this idea to professional scientists and scholars, and by leading by example, the project aims to engage a much broader segment of the academic community in utilizing, and developing further these technologies. The work will include an active and multi-facetted program of education and public outreach, which will foster the public understanding of both science and information technology.

摘要本研究的目的是探索新兴的沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）技术和虚拟世界（VWs）在天体物理学及相关领域的科学和教育用途的效用。这项工作将在Meta计算天体物理学研究所（云母）的主持下进行，该研究所是第一个完全以大众为基础的专业科学组织，代表了科学组织和通信本身的实验。然而，研究结果应该更广泛地适用于大多数其他科学和学术领域。向整个学术界展示这些新兴技术的潜力和效用，将有助于吸引和促进科学家和教育工作者更广泛地参与这些发展。具体而言，研究将探讨以下主题：（1）VW作为科学合作和交流环境的用途，从个人和小组讨论，到研讨会和科学会议和讲习班。(2)用户交互和与数值模拟接口的新方式，在设置，调整和结果解释方面，特别是在交互/协作环境中。(3)高度复杂的多维数据集的沉浸式和交互式可视化，用于直接的视觉探索，数据挖掘，以及电子媒体中的可扩展演示。(4)利用妇女志愿者作为一个新颖的、互动的教育和公共宣传平台。(5)对下一代Web的数据架构和结构进行了初步探索，其中包括VR用户界面，以及人类化身和智能软件代理的交互。(6)调查大众在非专有Opensim/Opengrid环境中的开发。这一努力将在天体物理学领域使用新的VR和VW技术开发新的科学研究和通信模式，但也对类似的科学领域产生积极影响。它可以开启科学家之间相互作用的新方式，与他们的数据，并与他们的数值模拟，从而培养一些真正的新的“计算思维”的科学和学术方法。虚拟世界将成为在计算天体物理学和数据密集型天文学领域进行严格研究活动的平台，寻求确定这些新技术的潜力，并为它们所支持的学术和研究活动开发一套新的最佳实践，并结合现有的基于Web的技术和新的VR技术。这个项目背后的中心思想是，沉浸式VR和大众汽车是与Web本身同等的潜在变革性技术，可以而且应该用于严肃的目的，包括科学和学术。通过向专业科学家和学者传达这一想法，并通过以身作则，该项目旨在使学术界更广泛的部分参与利用和进一步开发这些技术。这项工作将包括一个积极和多方面的教育和公众宣传方案，这将促进公众对科学和信息技术的理解。