RAPID: The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission

新冠肺炎疫情改变了我们与实体世界的关系。社交距离准则导致许多人避免所有形式的公共生活，从音乐会和餐馆到公园、社区和家人和朋友家的日常互动。随之而来的是在线互动的大量增加：互联网突然成为许多美国人社交、劳动和学习的主要方式。关键是要更好地了解这些变化的出现与大流行之间的关系。即使发现了疫苗，防止新冠肺炎灾难性传播到未来几年也将取决于能够持续并与工作、教育和社区融合的社会距离。这意味着要上网。因此，解决这一全球挑战的出发点是，我们所说的“社会距离”实际上是物理距离。成功的身体距离将依赖于在线社交亲密的新形式。然而，并不是只有一个“在线”。快速而有效的应对需要澄清虚拟世界作为构成虚拟文化的不同在线互动形式的一部分所产生的影响：社交网站、流媒体网站和多人平台。该项目还将培训研究生研究人员学习网络文化的方法论方法。这项研究将在交通密集的虚拟世界中进行。虚拟世界是个人在在线环境中与化身互动的地方。研究人员在虚拟世界环境中进行了十多年的研究，因此拥有详细的基线数据，可以用来检查由于新冠肺炎疫情而大量进入虚拟世界的情况。突然转向虚拟世界在社交亲密性和互动性方面做了什么？虚拟空间中的共同存在如何改变亲密关系和协作？这如何通过在物理距离的背景下打造新的社会亲密形式，为防止病毒传播提供创新战略？为了调查这些问题，研究人员将进行参与者观察、个人访谈和小组访谈。这项研究将比较在虚拟世界中呆了多年的人和新冠肺炎之后进入虚拟世界的人。这项研究的发现将为我们深入了解虚拟世界在新冠肺炎重塑的社会背景下提供的具体可能性。在这些新环境下，虚拟世界将成为在线生态系统的一个组成部分，将无人机、机器人和自动驾驶车辆与移动设备、社交网站、在线游戏和流媒体、增强现实、人工智能、机器学习和数据分析联系起来。因此，这项研究将更好地了解虚拟世界在这个新兴的在线生态系统中的地位。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our relationship to the physical world. Social distancing guidelines have led many people to avoid all forms of public life, from concerts and restaurants to everyday interaction in parks, neighborhoods, and the homes of family and friends. In response there has been a massive increase in online interaction: the internet has suddenly become the primary way that many Americans socialize, labor, and learn. It is crucial to gain a better understanding of how the emergence of these changes is related to the pandemic. Even if a vaccine is discovered, preventing catastrophic levels of COVID-19 transmission into the next few years will depend on social distancing that can be sustained and integrated with work, education, and community. This means going online. The starting point for addressing this global challenge is thus the fact that what we call “social distancing” is really physical distancing. Successful physical distancing will rely on new forms of social closeness online. Yet there is not just one “online.” A rapid and effective response requires clarifying the impact of virtual worlds as part of different forms of online interaction that comprise a virtual culture: social network sites, streaming websites, and multiplayer platforms. The project will also train graduate student researchers in methodological approaches for studying online cultures. This research will be conducted in a densely trafficked virtual world. Virtual worlds are places where individuals interact with avatars in online environments. The investigators have conducted research in a virtual world context for over a decade, and thus have detailed baseline data with which to examine what is happening as a large number of individuals enter that virtual world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the sudden move to virtual worlds doing in terms of social closeness and interaction? How does co-presence in virtual place transform intimacy and collaboration? How might this provide innovative strategies for preventing viral transmission, by forging new forms of social closeness in the context of physical distancing? To investigate these questions, the researchers will conduct participant observation, individual interviews, and group interviews. The study will compare individuals who have spent time in the virtual world for years with individuals who have entered the virtual world after COVID-19. Findings from this research will provide insight into the specific possibilities virtual worlds are providing in the circumstances of societies reshaped by COVID-19. In these new circumstances, virtual worlds will be one element of an online ecosystem linking drones, robots, and autonomous vehicles to mobile devices, social network sites, online games and streaming, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics. The research will thus provide a better understanding of the place of virtual worlds in this emerging online ecosystem.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.