Tag: Academic Research

San José State University School of Information’s Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration Is Holding a Research Symposium in Second Life on October 24th, 2020

While I have written in the past about the use of Second Life by librarians who have set up virtual public and academic libraries, it should be noted that SL has also been home to not just libraries, but also museums and archives of various kinds throughout its 17-year history.

The School of Information (iSchool) at San José State University (SJSU) in California, which offers a Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA) degree program, runs the Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration (VCARA) in Second Life, which describes itself as follows:

An iSchool student group, VCARA is a MARA-created space and community based in the virtual world Second Life (SL). We offer many resources both in SL and online including annual conferences, events, exhibits, trainings, and webcasts. VCARA is open to all students, alumni, educators, and other professionals interested in virtual worlds and any aspect of information science including archives, education, and libraries.

The SJSU School of Library and Information Sciences in Second Life

On October 24th, 2020, VCARA will be hosting an event titled XR: Bridging the Gap Research Symposium:

Plan now to attend the XR: Bridging the Gap Research Symposium on October 24, 2020, from 9 a.m. to noon SLT (Pacific Time).

Venue: VCARA’s XR Research Center in SL on the SJSU SLIS sim (SLURL)

The goal of this symposium is to provide a venue for members of Virtual Worlds, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality communities to share accomplishments and challenges and to learn from one another.

9 a.m. – 10 a.m. – Keynote Address

10 – 10:45 a.m. – Birds of a Feather 

– Accessibility
– Networking/Communities of Practice
– Content Creation/Building

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Lightning Poster Session followed by a trip to Mozilla Hubs (with our without your headsets)

I have accepted an invitation to be a co-host of one of the Birds of a Feather discussion sessions taking place, on the topic of Networking and Professional Development in Virtual Worlds and Virtual Reality (along with Bethany Winslow, an Instructional Designer at San José State University). The BoaF sessions will be approximately 45 minutes in a breakout room, after which we will join up again in the main room to give a 5 minute recap of the important aspects of each BoaF.

The event is free, and everyone who is interested in the topic of virtual worlds and virtual reality in archives, education, and libraries is welcome to attend! To find out how you can become involved, please contact Dr. Patricia Franks, at the SJSU iSchool.

Facebook to Give Up to Five Awards of US$75,000 Each for Social VR Research Proposals

Facebook Research dropped the following announcement, which I somehow missed, which will be of some interest to academic researchers in the area of social virtual reality:

Facebook is…soliciting proposals to help accelerate research in social VR with the hope of fostering open, welcoming, and safer virtual worlds. There are fairly robust research fields in traditional 2D social platforms, and we hope to drive similar progress in the fields of 3D and virtual reality social interaction. We anticipate awarding a total of five awards of up to $75,000 USD each. Payment will be made to the proposer’s host university in the form of a grant awarded by a third-party donor-advised fund, per the Terms & Conditions set forth below.

We strongly encourage researchers from diverse backgrounds and of diverse abilities to apply.

Facebook also provides three topics that they are especially interested in, but also state that “Researchers are encouraged to propose additional topics relevant to the theme of social interactions and social user experiences in VR environments.” The three areas are:

1. How does social VR contribute to social connection?

As with any form of interactive platform, virtual reality can help us better understand user behaviors and psychology. Facebook is interested in learning how immersive 3D VR experiences can help us better understand topics related to social connection, interaction and interpersonal relationships (virtual and real).

Social networks and groups are fundamental forums for interaction on these platforms. We are interested in how groups and communities arise, operate, and facilitate interaction in social VR environments.

2. What lessons in social interaction, social psychology and experience have we learned from 2D social platforms that apply to 3D immersive environments?

Despite immersive social platforms being relatively new to society, there are countless lessons that we can take from research on 2D social platforms that have been in existence for decades.Facebook is interested in discovering how research areas like social interaction, social anxiety and online harassment from a 2D lens can be applied to further understand experiences in 3D social VR environments.

3. How can we ensure user safety for teens in social VR environments?

Facebook is interested in how immersive social VR experiences affect teens (ages 13-18) in particular. Further, Facebook seeks to understand how social VR platforms can mitigate threats such as online addiction, online harassment, cyberbullying, and other safety concerns for younger users.

The deadline for applications is October 29th, 2020. For further details, including the terms and conditions of these awards, please see the Facebook Research website for this award. For a listing of all current research award opportunities, please see Facebook’s Research Awards page.

You Can Take Part in an Academic Research Study on Social VR Relationships in AltspaceVR

Dr. Kristin Drogos and Michael Zhang are conducting academic research on interpersonal relationships on the social VR platform AltspaceVR. Michael asks:

Have you used AltspaceVR for over six months and are 18 years or older? We’re conducting a study on social VR relationships at the University of Michigan and would love for you to participate. All you need to do is complete a 10 to 15-minute survey on a laptop or desktop computer. Optional 30-minute interview at the end. Thanks!

If you are interested, here is a link to the survey. If you have used AltspaceVR for more than six months, and are over 18, please consider taking part, thanks!

You Can Take Part in a Research Survey on Your Use of Social VR During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Dr. Miguel Barreda-Ángeles, a Communication Science researcher the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is conducting a survey on the use of social VR platforms during the coronavirus pandemic. He says:

The aim of this study is to understand how people are using Virtual Reality social networks (for instance, VRChat, AltSpaceVR, etc.) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The knowledge generated can be useful for understanding the role of new communication technologies in health crises. 

The survey is completely anonymous; we do not collect information that could be used to identify you. It takes about seven minutes to complete it. 

If you are interested in participating in this survey, here is the link to get started.