Digitally Merged Environments
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: This project will hold a collaborative event in next-generation digital media with the objective of forming a research and development consortium for the production of systems that create digitally merged environments – both actual and virtual. Virtual environments can be simulations of real environments, imaginary environments created from data, or a combination of both. One can see, hear, and feel as if actually in another environment and interact there with others and/or real and imaginary objects and equipment. The potential applications of this technology are infinite across every aspect of human life and experience. There will be broad applications that impact everyone’s daily life and specialized applications that impact particular professions and areas of endeavour. The project participants believe that this technology is in its infancy and that it will require a new approach – a coordinated effort on the part of a number of research teams – to make the leap forward to next-generation systems. The event will focus on technologies that will have a major impact on both the arts and the sciences. It will map the possible development phases, determine the required human resource roles, match them to participants and establish working relationships. It will also identify potential industry partners and establish links to other Canada-California projects and research resources. The main objective of the consortium will be to create digitally merged environments where an individual in one environment has the overwhelming sensory experience of being in a completely different environment. This requires technology sophisticated enough to suspend disbelief so that the user is free to concentrate on a primary activity without the distraction that results from awareness of the technology being used. The collaborative event will be part of a process that includes pre-workshop surveys, familiarization of the participants with one another’s accomplishments, expertise and interests, development of the workshop agenda, the workshop itself and post-workshop reports and an action plan for next steps. The participating multidisciplinary group from 5 participating institutions in California and 7 in Canada consists of 20 leading researchers who are members of research centres in computing, ultra-videoconferencing, tele-immersion, man-machine interfaces, interactive visualizations, acoustics, music, the arts, design, experimental media and ocean sciences. It is expected that the proposed research and development consortium will result in the creation of intellectual property that will be far more valuable than would have resulted from a unilateral approach. The combined resources will produce systems with a much wider range of applications, sophistication and robustness than the participants could hope to produce individually. This in turn will lead to better marketability and economies of scale that will benefit both California and Canada.