RAPID: New Models for Online Social Experiences Supporting Immediate Needs of NSF REU students, Conferences and the Advancement of Remote Research

新冠肺炎疫情极大地影响了工作的方式和地点，产生了对支持远程工作和教育的技术和战略的巨大需求。虽然视频会议和聊天应用在这段时间里帮了很大的忙，但它们的局限性也变得显而易见。这个项目探索了3D虚拟世界如何重现共享办公和学习环境中的优势：对同事或同学的工作的认识，成为共享社区的一部分的感觉，以及即兴互动的机会。该项目通过促进有关3D和虚拟现实技术如何使人们能够远程连接和协作的知识，模拟自然地创造对新想法和专业网络的出现和传播至关重要的社交情景的物理约束，来促进更具弹性的工作和学习环境的设计和开发。该项目将研究3D和虚拟现实技术如何有效地再现现实世界物理条件的积极方面，同时允许社交比视频或聊天技术更方便和高效。该项目还将研究虚拟现实技术如何通过减少远程参与的障碍来促进多样性和包容性。虚拟世界技术将用于支持当前和未来科学家在三个领域的关键社会互动。首先，该项目将在夏季支持本科生网络，作为探索更有规律地分享研究进展和社区建设的起点，方法是将正在进行的研究成果放置在虚拟世界中，以刺激对话以及共同构建和审查研究产品。该项目将探讨正在进行的非正式合作以及正式陈述。其次，它将利用夏季完成的工作，探索秋季在线和多站点会议模式的新方法。第三，它将在这两个项目和以前工作的基础上，支持和研究大型学术会议向在线或混合形式的过渡。在整个过程中，3D和虚拟现实技术将通过参与者的反馈和与能够在全球推广这些方法的行业合作伙伴关系进行系统研究和推进。该奖项反映了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 dramatically impacted how and where work may take place, creating a profound demand for technologies and strategies supporting remote work and education. While video conferencing and chat applications have been a great help during this time, their limitations have also become clear. This project explores how 3D virtual worlds can recreate the advantages of being in shared office and learning environments: awareness of the work of your colleagues or fellow students, a sense of being part of a shared community, and opportunities for impromptu interactions. The project promotes the design and development of more resilient work and learning environments by advancing knowledge of how 3D and virtual reality technologies enable people to connect and collaborate at a distance, simulating the physical constraints that naturally create social situations that are vital to the emergence and diffusion of new ideas and professional networks. This project will study how 3D and virtual reality technologies may be effective at recreating the positive aspects of physical conditions of the real world, while allowing for social interaction to be more convenient and efficient than video or chat technologies. The project will also study how virtual reality technologies promote diversity and inclusion by reducing barriers to remote participation. Virtual worlds technology will be used to support key social interactions of current and future scientists in three areas. First, the project will support a network of undergraduate research students over the summer as a starting point for exploring more regular sharing of research progress and community building, by situating ongoing research artifacts in virtual worlds to stimulate conversation as well as co-construction and review of the research products. The project will explore ongoing informal collaboration as well as formal presentations. Second, it will leverage work completed over the summer for exploring new approaches to online and multi-site models of conferencing in the fall. Third, it will build on both of these projects and previous work to support and study the transition of a major academic conference to an online or hybrid form. Throughout, the 3D and virtual reality technology will be systematically studied and advanced through feedback from participants and partnership with industry that can scale these approaches globally.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.