Scholars Award: An Ethnography of an Emerging Technological Community

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

This project will investigate a community of innovation that is devoted to building virtual reality (VR) devices and experiences. The aim of this research is to track the conversations and activities of this technological community at the nexus of industry, entertainment and research. The results of this research will deepen our understanding of the formation and growth of innovation communities. It will address how knowledge flows across institutions, and how technologies are shaping places and selves. The findings of this project will be of interest to policy makers, designers, innovators, businesses, entertainment industry and educators. This research is an ethnography of an innovation community and will be conducted through participant observation and interviews. The project will be based at the confluence of academic institutions, technology companies, and the entertainment business. The questions structuring the ethnography include: 1) what are the goals and narratives of this community of innovation; (2) how do the interactions between bodies and VR technologies create novel kinds of places that are simultaneously virtual and physical; and (3) how does the language the VR community uses to describe the technology invite a rethinking of human sociality? In focusing specifically on female led research and ventures, this ethnography will further highlight the role of women in STEM and tell the story of an emerging technology from a perspective often absent in such conversations.