VIRTMorph Symposium and Workshop at the 2019 International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology; July 21-25, 2019; Prague, Czech Republic

该奖项部分支持参加国际脊椎动物形态学大会（ICVM）的研讨会和研讨会的与会者的旅行，ICVM是国际脊椎动物形态学学会将于2019年7月在捷克共和国布拉格举行的三年一度的会议。该研讨会和研讨会汇集了科学家和软件开发人员，以推进虚拟现实（VR）的使用，用于功能形态学领域的研究和教学。形态学科学的进展受到从二维图像（例如照片和插图）理解和量化三维结构的困难以及大多数结构的不透明性的阻碍，这通常使得不解剖生物体就不可能看到生物体内部。一个重大的飞跃来自三维（3-D）射线照相方法的发展，如计算机断层扫描和磁共振成像，使3-D数据的密度差异，以非侵入性的方式获得，可视化，并操纵。一个新颖的，也许类似的，飞跃来自软件和硬件的发展，使这些数据能够使用虚拟现实进行研究和量化。科学家们可以在虚拟有机体内部或周围走动，更好地了解个体结构与整个有机体的关系。由于这些数据和可视化是数字化的，它们正在推进科学家共享和存档数据以及开发教学工具的方式。研讨会将汇集来自地球仪的科学家，他们正在使用VR来促进对一系列生物体结构和功能的理解，并将使其他科学家接触到多人游戏平台的使用，以便在真实的时间和长距离内进行合作。研讨会上的培训将使科学家能够在其网站和现有的存储库中发布VR就绪的数据，将移动的VR体验带入教室和博物馆，并更好地利用科学收藏。VR将帮助研究人员使用无处不在的现代工具-智能手机-为公众带来身临其境的科学体验。科学理解的进步通常伴随着技术创新，为研究人员提供了对复杂问题的新见解。VR有望为生物体生物学核心的复杂三维形态学做到这一点。VR环境优于检查单个研究标本，尤其是稀有或濒危物种的标本，因为虚拟对象可以随意进行数字切片、旋转和放大。上级。将在国际ICVM会议上举行的VIRTMorph研讨会和研讨会将通过说明如何使用虚拟现实促进对复杂解剖结构的理解来推进功能形态学的研究。该研讨会将使科学家熟悉VR软件和硬件，以便顺利轻松地过渡到使用这个强大的新工具。科学家们将学习如何使用VR为数字会议建立网络框架，从而促进国际合作。它将提高科学家以有效方式向公众传播研究成果的能力。预期成果包括将在科学杂志上发表的合作白色论文，该论文将详细介绍VR的最新创新如何最好地用于功能形态学研究和推广。此外，还将制作《VR在生物学中的使用入门指南》，并在主要研究者网站上设立系列教程和公告板，以更广泛地传播研讨会的培训内容。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award partially supports travel for participants in a symposium and workshop at the International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), a triennial meeting of the International Society of Vertebrate Morphology to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, in July 2019. The symposium and workshop bring together scientists and software developers to advance the use of virtual reality (VR) for the purposes of both research and teaching in the field of functional morphology. Progress in the morphological sciences has been impeded by the difficulty of understanding and quantifying three dimensional structures from two dimensional images, for example photographs and illustrations, and from the opacity of most structures, which generally makes it impossible to see inside organisms without dissecting them. A major leap forward came from the development of three-dimensional (3-D) radiographic methods, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which enable 3-D data of differences in density to be acquired noninvasively, visualized, and manipulated. A novel, and perhaps similar, leap forward comes from software and hardware developments that enable these data to be studied and quantified using virtual reality. Scientists can virtually step inside or walk around a virtual organism, and better understand the relationships of individual structures to the whole organism. Because these data and visualizations are digital, they are advancing the ways scientists share and archive data and develop teaching tools. The symposium will bring together scientists from across the globe who are using VR to advance understanding of structure and function in a range of organisms, and will expose other scientists to the use of multiplayer platforms to collaborate in real time and over long distances. Training at the workshop will enable scientists to publish VR-ready data on their websites and in existing repositories, to bring mobile VR experiences into classrooms and museums, and to make better use of scientific collections. VR will help researchers use a ubiquitous modern tool - the smartphone - to bring immersive, scientific experiences to the public.Advances in scientific understanding often follow technological innovations that afford researchers new insights into complex problems. VR promises to do this for the complex, three-dimensional morphology that is at the heart of organismal biology. The VR environment is superior to examining individual research specimens, especially of rare or endangered species, because virtual objects can be digitally sliced, rotated, and scaled up at will. The VIRTMorph symposium and workshop to be held at the international ICVM meeting will advance the study of functional morphology by illustrating how the understanding of complex anatomy can be facilitated using virtual reality. The workshop will familiarize scientists with VR software and hardware so that a transition to the use of this powerful new tool can occur smoothly and effortlessly. Scientists will learn how to use VR to set up a web framework for digital meetings, and thereby will facilitate international collaborations. It will enhance the ability of scientists to communicate research results to the public in effective ways. Anticipated outcomes include a collaborative white paper, to be published in a scientific journal, that will detail how recent innovations in VR may best be used for research in functional morphology and for outreach. A Beginners Guide to Using VR in Biology will be produced, and a tutorial series and posting board will be established on the principal investigator's website to more broadly disseminate the workshop training.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.