WORKSHOP: The IEEE VR 2017 Doctoral Consortium

University Of North Carolina At Wilmington, Wilmington NC

Investigators

Abstract

This is funding to support participation by approximately 7 promising graduate students from educational institutions in the United States, along with about 5 senior members of the academic and industrial research communities as mentors, in a Doctoral Consortium (workshop) to be held in conjunction with the IEEE Virtual Reality (VR) 2017 conference that will take place March 18-22 in Los Angeles, CA, and which is collocated since 2006 with the IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI). Virtual reality is a multidisciplinary field involving human-centered computer simulations that seek to imitate or augment real world senses (usually sight, sound, and touch) and experiences. VR research includes the development and assessment of methods and systems, and facilitating and understanding user perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. First organized by the IEEE Computer Society in 1993 and held annually since 1995, IEEE Virtual Reality is the premier international conference and exhibition in this field and includes technical paper presentations, workshops, tutorials, research demonstrations, and exhibits from industry. More information about the conference may be found online at http://www.ieeevr.org/2017. The goal of the Doctoral Consortium is to provide a unique venue for interactive, supportive, and prestigious mentoring for mid-level graduate students in virtual reality, to afford these students a valuable opportunity to get independent perspectives on their research from senior individuals with a wide collective breadth and depth of knowledge, and to build a cohort of young researchers within the VR community. Special efforts have been made by the organizers to achieve diversity among the students across institutions, and to recruit participants from groups traditionally underrepresented in the field of computer science, including women, persons of color, and people with disabilities. This year's IEEE VR Doctoral Consortium builds on the successful format of the previous such events, which were also supported by NSF. The main activities of the DC will take place on Saturday, March 18, in parallel with the first day of IEEE 3DUI. The workshop will include morning and afternoon sessions in which each student presents his/her work to the other student participants and a panel of senior VR researchers, with sufficient time set aside after each talk for discussion and constructive feedback that addresses the strengths of the work, challenges and issues that may arise, and implications of the results. A group working lunch attended by all the students and mentors will be particularly valuable for unifying the individual goals and projects presented within the group as part of a "big picture" envisioning of the future of the field over the next 10-20 years. The VR conference will begin the evening of Sunday, March 19, with a welcome reception, where DC participants will network with what they have learned during the full day event. The DC attendees will also participate in a poster session, which will give them more opportunities to network and discuss their research. Additional smaller activities, including a lunch with key leaders in the 3DUI and VR research communities, will take place at scattered times over the rest of the week; in particular, small groups of 2-3 students will meet for mentoring lunches and/or other networking events with senior members of the VR/3DUI community. The IEEE VR/3DUI conference planners will generously provide as much financial support as possible to the DC through the main conference's budget, including meeting space, audio-visual rental, and food and beverage during breaks for free. In addition, the IEEE VR/3DUI conference will pay for a welcoming dinner and the working lunch for the students and mentoring committee, which will provide critical opportunities for students to learn from mentors and VIP leaders in the field.