Indigenous Calendar Knowledge, Research Protocols, and Visualization Technologies

这项研究探讨了将土著科学知识与数字媒体平台相结合的社会，技术和文化过程。墨西哥高原中部的Otomi人在数千年的时间里，根据对月球、太阳和金星周期的观察，发展了广泛的天文学知识体系。目前正在努力与Otomi人合作，以保存和保护他们的土著天文知识。这将使Otomi知识持有者能够在本地，区域和全球范围内分享他们的宇宙学知识。然而，虚拟现实环境和三维成像等数字技术也会扭曲空间和时间的概念，就像二维地图扭曲陆地一样，造成扭曲，挑战平移过程。这个项目记录了知识系统的交叉点，社区知识通过叙述、图像和代际交流被转化为数字系统，这些数字系统以计算标准化和3d相机为标志。研究人员将分析土著民族科学家，数字媒体制作者和传统知识持有者合作创建原型虚拟现实表示的参与式设计过程。该项目将鼓励西班牙裔和美洲原住民学生对STEM职业和STS研究的兴趣，这对美国劳动力至关重要，同时还将评估虚拟现实技术可能有助于土著知识回收和文化可持续性的方式。通过圆桌讨论和参与式设计会议收集的数据，并根据演员网络理论，本研究解决了四个主要问题：（1）谁是参与翻译土著天文知识的主要合作者，他们将使用什么材料来创建一种新形式的土著技术科学？(2)沉浸式3D视听技术能否准确传达原住民认识论的复杂原则？(3)需要什么样的知识、界面设计或数据标准化才能有效地为世界各地的其他土著社区建立最佳案例模型？(4)什么样的协议和方法可以实现最佳案例实践，以确保原住民社区及其知识受到尊重而不被利用？总体而言，这项研究在原住民知识持有者的指导下，并根据参与原住民社区的协议，调查了标准化原住民日历可视化以供公众和社区展示所需的流程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并且通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research examines the social, technical, and cultural processes of integrating Indigenous scientific knowledge with digital media platforms. The Otomi people of the central Mexican plateau have developed extensive astronomical knowledge systems for calendrical timekeeping over thousands of years based on observations of lunar, solar, and Venusian cycles. Efforts are underway to collaborate with the Otomi people to digitize and preserve their indigenous astronomical knowledge. This will enable Otomi knowledge-holders to share their cosmological knowledge locally, regionally, and globally. However, digital technologies like virtual reality environments and three-dimensional imaging can also warp conceptions of space and time, creating distortions much like a two-dimensional map distorts landmasses, challenging translational processes. This project documents the intersection of knowledge systems as community knowledge held through narratives, images, and intergenerational exchange is translated into digital systems marked by computational standardization and 3-d cameras. Researchers will analyze participatory design processes as Indigenous ethno-scientists, digital media-makers, and traditional knowledge-holders collaborate to create a prototype virtual reality representation. The project will encourage Hispanic and Native American students’ interest in STEM careers and STS research, which is vital to the American workforce, while also assessing the ways that virtual reality technologies may contribute to Indigenous knowledge reclamations and cultural sustainability. Drawing upon data collected through round table discussions and participatory design sessions, and informed by Actor-Network Theory, this research addresses four main questions: (1) Who are the primary collaborators involved in translating Indigenous astronomical knowledge and what materials will they use to create a novel form of Indigenous technoscience? (2) Can immersive 3-D audio-visual technology accurately convey the complex tenets of Indigenous epistemology? (3) What kinds of knowledge, interface design, or data standardization will be needed to effectively accomplish a best-case model for other Indigenous communities around the world? (4) What kind of protocols and methodologies can enable a best-case practice for ensuring that Indigenous communities and their knowledge are respected and not exploited? Overall, this research investigates the processes needed to standardize Indigenous calendar visualizations for public and community presentation, with the guidance of Indigenous knowledge keepers and according to the protocols of participating with Indigenous communities.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.