Scholars Award: An Ethnography of an Emerging Technological Community

该项目将调查一个致力于构建虚拟现实（VR）设备和体验的创新社区。这项研究的目的是跟踪这个技术社区在工业、娱乐和研究之间的对话和活动。本研究的结果将加深我们对创新社区形成和成长的理解。它将讨论知识如何在机构之间流动，以及技术如何塑造地方和自我。该项目的研究结果将引起政策制定者、设计师、创新者、企业、娱乐行业和教育工作者的兴趣。本研究是一个创新社区的民族志，将通过参与观察和访谈进行。该项目将以学术机构、科技公司和娱乐业的融合为基础。构成民族志的问题包括：1)这个创新群体的目标和叙事是什么；(2)人体与虚拟现实技术之间的互动如何创造出虚拟与现实并存的新型场所；(3) VR社区用来描述这项技术的语言如何引发对人类社会性的重新思考？在专门关注女性领导的研究和企业方面，这一人种志将进一步突出女性在STEM中的作用，并从此类对话中经常缺失的角度讲述新兴技术的故事。

This project will investigate a community of innovation that is devoted to building virtual reality (VR) devices and experiences. The aim of this research is to track the conversations and activities of this technological community at the nexus of industry, entertainment and research. The results of this research will deepen our understanding of the formation and growth of innovation communities. It will address how knowledge flows across institutions, and how technologies are shaping places and selves. The findings of this project will be of interest to policy makers, designers, innovators, businesses, entertainment industry and educators. This research is an ethnography of an innovation community and will be conducted through participant observation and interviews. The project will be based at the confluence of academic institutions, technology companies, and the entertainment business. The questions structuring the ethnography include: 1) what are the goals and narratives of this community of innovation; (2) how do the interactions between bodies and VR technologies create novel kinds of places that are simultaneously virtual and physical; and (3) how does the language the VR community uses to describe the technology invite a rethinking of human sociality? In focusing specifically on female led research and ventures, this ethnography will further highlight the role of women in STEM and tell the story of an emerging technology from a perspective often absent in such conversations.