Collaborative Research: Elements: Enriching Scholarly Communication with Augmented Reality

如今的网上购物者可以使用增强现实技术（AR），将智能手机对准客厅的一个空角落，看看一盏特定的新灯在那里会是什么样子；用餐者只需扫描贴在餐桌上的二维码，就可以在手机上立即看到餐厅的菜单。这个项目将利用过去几年企业界在增强现实领域的巨大投资，以及熟悉的QR码的便利性，让天文学家看到和探索3D宇宙就像他们购买新沙发一样容易。基于他们2021年在《美国天文学会期刊》上成功发表的首个ar增强图，该奖项的资金将用于创建一个强大的系统，允许任何作者在增强现实环境中发布展示高维数据的图。除了在线购物者使用的智能手机和平板电脑之外，不需要任何昂贵的设备。天文学家将能够通过在平面上方的投影周围走动，或使用AR目标设备将其握在手中，以“3D”方式查看和探索他们的数据。例如，想象一下，从黑洞喷出的射流从模拟星系的中心喷出物质，投射在研究人员的厨房桌子上方，等等。在项目的过程中，团队将设计，反复测试，并最终部署一个高效的端到端系统，用于在学术期刊中嵌入增强现实图像。通过丰富学术交流，这个新的基于ar的系统有望加快科学发现的步伐。创建的系统将扩展到多个模块化网络基础设施组件，包括：数据格式标准；数据分析软件；3D转换工具；AR集成管道；视觉识别编码基础设施；还有出版过程。根据本提案创建和测试的用于创作和部署AR数字的系统代表了网络基础设施的创新，最终将为所有依赖高维数据有效通信的人之间的通信打开全新的渠道。该项目由计算机与信息科学与工程理事会的高级网络基础设施办公室和数学与物理科学理事会的天文科学部提供支持。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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。

Today’s online shoppers can use augmented reality (AR) to aim their smartphones at an empty corner of their living room to see how a particular new lamp might look there, and diners can instantly see a restaurant's menu on their phones just by scanning a QR code posted at their table. This project will leverage the tremendous investments in AR made by the corporate world over the past several years, and the familiar ease of QR codes, to allow astronomers to see and explore the 3D Universe just as easily as they might shop for a new couch. Building on their 2021 success in publishing the first AR-enhanced figure in an American Astronomical Society Journal, the funding from this award will be used to create a robust system allowing any author to publish figures showcasing high-dimensional data in augmented reality environments. No expensive equipment beyond the same smartphones and tablets used by online shoppers will be needed. Astronomers will be able to see and explore their data in "3D" by walking around projections of it hovering above flat surfaces, or holding in their hands using AR target devices. Imagine, for example, a jet from a black hole, spewing out material from the center of a simulated galaxy, projected just above a researcher’s kitchen table, etc.Over the course of the project, the team will design, repeatedly test, and ultimately deploy an efficient and effective end-to-end system for embedding augmented reality figures in scholarly journals. By enriching scholarly communication, this new AR-based system is expected to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. The system created will extend across multiple modular cyberinfrastructure components, including: data format standards; data analysis software; 3D conversion tooling; AR integration pipelines; visual ID encoding infrastructure; and the publication process. The system for authoring and deploying AR figures created and tested under this proposal represents cyberinfrastructure innovation that will ultimately open completely new channels for communication amongst all who rely on effective communication of high-dimensional data.This project is supported by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering and the Division of Astronomical Sciences in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.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.