Ethical and Responsible Research for Augmented Reality

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The research team will collaborate with museums to develop new Augmented Reality (AR) applications for memorialization and communication. The project will contribute to our understanding of the risks and benefits AR poses to digitally representing human experiences. The project will use a co-development process to conceptualize collaborative technology research frameworks that engage practitioners with expertise in the ethical media representation of sensitive narratives. The outcomes of the project will be of interest to educators, policy makers, technology developers, practitioners and citizens. The project will focus on Augmented Reality development while working to formulate socially-responsible research frameworks that are generalizable to other domains of immersive technology including virtual and mixed reality. Through a methodology of case studies, collaborative design partnerships, and design workshops and hackathons, the project is expected to inform future research in socially-responsible AR by: 1) providing a descriptive baseline of models for socially responsible information technology development within museums, cultural centers, and human-rights organizations; 2) investigating how AR technology can create public engagement with sensitive nonfictional narratives through co-developing AR memorialization applications with human rights organizations; 3) developing educational curricula to teach students how to conduct ethical and accountable STEM research; and, 4) facilitating the development of interdisciplinary networks between early stage faculty and graduate student researchers with policy experts and human rights institutions for future co-development research, potentially extending to other technologies and their social impacts.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.