Collaborative Research: CCRI: Grand: Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA)

在XR（虚拟现实、增强现实和混合现实）中进行基于实验室的人类受试者研究的研究人员通常会发现自己在相当长的时间内非常努力地进行研究，但最终只能为有限的人群产生非常狭窄的发现。通过与XR社区的广泛互动，虚拟体验研究加速器（VERA）项目将以人机系统（硬件，软件和人员）的形式开发一个变革性的新CISE社区研究基础设施，该系统将分布式实验室研究，在线研究，研究小组和众包的各个方面结合并扩展到一个统一的系统中，用于进行基于XR的研究。VERA是与XR社区一起为XR社区设计的，旨在满足该领域的研究需求，以高可扩展性满足不同学科对大数据的需求。该系统将使研究人员能够在线进行XR用户研究，同时在一个非常大的，精心策划的，多样化的，专门的XR研究参与者常设池中进行。访问基础设施将从根本上改变XR研究人员开发和开展研究的方式，使他们能够摆脱基于实验室的研究范式的棘手性，并大大加快新知识的质量和数量。访问还将通过为来自全国各地的XR研究人员（包括学生）提供机会来增加公平性，即使他们无法在当地大学使用XR实验室和设备，也可以进行高影响力的研究。它将使创新研究与大型和多样化的参与者样本，纵向和复制研究，以及大型多样化的数据集生成机器学习和其他目的。作为这一努力的一部分，VERA团队将实施和发布机制，使研究更容易获得和更具包容性。该项目包括通过与行业和社区组织建立战略伙伴关系，以社区参与的方式开发平台，这些组织将帮助建立平台并在整个XR社区传播工作。该基础设施将通过利用公众家庭中庞大且快速增长的XR系统基础以及业主使用它们的能力，为XR研究人员提供转型工具。在这些用户的同意下，VERA将使CISE研究人员能够非常快速地进行非常高质量的研究。VERA还旨在解决该领域的研究议程，以高可扩展性提供来自不同人类受试者的大数据需求。该奖项将支持大型和多样化参与者样本的创新研究，纵向和复制研究，以及用于人工智能，机器学习和其他目的的大型多样化数据集生成。该奖项反映了NSF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而被认为值得支持。

Researchers conducting lab-based human subject research in XR (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality) typically find themselves working very hard, over considerable time, to run studies that end up producing very narrow findings for a limited population. With extensive interactions with the XR community, the Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA) project will develop a transformative new CISE community research infrastructure in the form of a human-machine system (hardware, software, and people) that combines and extends aspects of distributed lab-based studies, online studies, research panels, and crowdsourcing, into a unified system for carrying out XR-based research. VERA was designed with and for the XR community to tackle this field’s research needs, supplying the demand for big data from diverse subjects at high scalability. The system will enable researchers to conduct XR user studies online, concurrently across a very large, carefully curated, diverse, dedicated standing pool of XR study participants. Access to the infrastructure will fundamentally change the way XR researchers develop and conduct research, enabling them to break free from the intractability of the lab-based study paradigm, and to dramatically accelerate the quality and quantity of new knowledge. Access will also increase equity by providing opportunities for XR researchers (including students) from all parts of the nation to do high-impact research even if they do not have access to XR labs and equipment at their local university. It will enable innovative research with large and diverse participant samples, longitudinal and replication studies, as well as large diverse data set generation for machine learning and other purposes. As part of this effort, the VERA team will implement and publish mechanisms to make studies more accessible and inclusive.The project includes a significant community-engaged approach to development of the platform through strategic partnerships with industry and community-based organizations who will help in building the platform and disseminating the work throughout the XR community. The infrastructure will provide a transformational tool for XR researchers by leveraging the large and rapidly growing base of XR systems in the homes of the general public, and the abilities of the owners to use them. With consent from these users, VERA will enable CISE researchers to conduct very high-quality studies very quickly. VERA is also designed to tackle this field’s research agenda, supplying the demand for big data from diverse human subjects at high scalability. It will enable innovative research with large and diverse participant samples, longitudinal and replication studies, as well as large diverse data set generation for AI, machine learning and other purposes.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.