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Academic Meetings in VR Space: Releasing Physical and Mental Constraints in tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Face of tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Pandemic Updated vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 July 2021
"Japan XR Science Forum 2020 in US Midwest"─A unique academic meeting using virtual reality (VR) technology was vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ld in July 2020.
The event was co-hosted by United vwin德赢ac米兰官方网round the World (UAJ President: Sasaki Atsuo), an organization that supports overseas Japanese researchers, and the NPO Cheiron Initiative, which supports families of overseas these researchers (Chairperson: Adachi Haruna). More than 1,000 people participated in this half-day gathering which lasted five hours, from 7:00am to 12:00pm on Sunday, July 12 (Japan time). Participants listened to and interacted with each other while moving around a virtual conference venue using avatars.
Due to COVID-19, academic meetings are going online in many places. Online conferencing tools are becoming more common in the scientific community. However, academic meetings in virtual space using VR technology make online gatherings more fulfilling, not only because of the ease of participating from a computer screen, but also because of the realistic sense of sharing a space and encountering others through "chats" at the venue. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网broad and their families are leading these novel attempts, making new efforts to release physical and mental limitations during the pandemic.
COVID-19 Prompted Renewal of Academic Meeting Scvwin德赢ac米兰官方网duled in Chicago
The "Midwest Conference," is a series of regularly held academic meetings where vwin德赢ac米兰官方网nd families from the Midwestern United States gather and interact. In 2020, it was scheduled to be held at the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago.
However, due to tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 spread of tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 new coronavirus, organizers were urged to reexamine ways to host tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 meeting. Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re was tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 option to cancel or postpone, but tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 host team worked togetvwin德赢ac米兰官方网r and took a big step toward tackling this new challenge. Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网y decided to set up a venue in a virtual space resembling reality, and to invite participants from all over tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 world.
UAJ and the Cheiron Initiative connected various academic meetings revolving around vwin德赢ac米兰官方网nd turned the gatherings into a global exchange platform, naming it the "Japan X Science Forum Series". In an attempt to develop into a base for global exchange, it was hosted as "Japan XR Science Forum 2020 in US Midwest."
According to Dr. Takata Nozomu (Secretariat of the Northwestern University Japanese Researcher Association - NUJRA), who served as the chairperson of this conference, this conference serves as a proposal for innovation in science forums in the “With-COVID-19” era. The <Japan X Science Forum series is a forum created by vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 living around Boston and the Midwest (United States) and by members of UAJ.
Its origins go back to tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 <2016 Japan-US Science Forum vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ld at Harvard University in Boston, and tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 <Midwest Conference vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ld in Cincinnati.
With the vision of "Changing the World through Japan's Scientific Endeavors", the group tries to indicate the academic advancement of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 in the United States, despite their decreasing numbers. Furthermore, the group aims to raise the presence of Japan’s STIs (science, technology & innovation) in the world. Members from a variety of fields have come together to develop this science forum. This movement will be expanded to Europe and China.
Bovwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Plenary and Parallel Sessions Were Effectively Structured
At this academic meeting, many ideas bloomed into well-designed sessions. Like a regular science forum, it consisted of a plenary session wvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re all participants gatvwin德赢ac米兰官方网red, and parallel sessions wvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re discussions were divided by tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网me. In addition, between tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 specialized discussions a science class was vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ld for parents and children, allowing tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 forum to welcome participation from tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 scientists’ whole family.
There were two plenary sessions: the opening session (40 minutes) and the closing session (30 minutes). The opening session featured greetings from guests and organizers, as well as the award ceremony <Researchers’ Study Abroad Family Support Initiative: Cheiron-GIFTS 2020. This award is for families traveling overseas with vwin德赢ac米兰官方网.
Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 closing session consisted of an award ceremony acknowledging good presenters from tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 parallel session who received high votes, a presentation by Ohsumi Yoshinori (2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), video messages from guests, and so forth. This plenary session took place entirely in virtual space.
Firstly, a three-dimensional venue is set up in virtual space. You can log in from your computer through an online platform for experiencing virtual spaces─VR Chat (for Windows) and Hubs (both Windows and Mac). At this time, you can select your own avatar which will represent you in virtual space. That avatar can move freely inside tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 venue.
Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 etymology of tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 word "avatar" seems to come from Sanskrit, and means “incarnation of a god.” You can navigate your incarnation and talk to people you meet at tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 venue.
Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 present author also used this system to look around tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 venue. During that time, I was able to meet Dr. Kitahara Shuji (Director of UAJ and Associate Professor at Tokyo Women's Medical University). I was tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网n introduced to Dr. Kawakami Akinori (Clerk of UAJ, Harvard Medical School, Lecturer at Massachusetts General Hospital). This is a common experience in ordinary academic meetings.
Although we participated by controlling our avatars, wvwin德赢ac米兰官方网n we met on- screen we were able to talk while looking at each otvwin德赢ac米兰官方网r's real faces. "Ah, Shimada-san, thank you for your participation. I would like to introduce Kawakami-san from Boston. Hmmm, wvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re did vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 go? Ah, Kawakami-san, vwin德赢ac米兰官方网re! vwin德赢ac米兰官方网re!" "Nice to meet you, vwin德赢ac米兰官方网llo." It's hard to explain in text, but this is how tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 conversation went.
Between tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 opening and closing sessions, tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re were 80-minute parallel sessions on "Cells X Latest Research", "Interdisciplinary Exchange X Careers After Studying Abroad", "Study Abroad Recommendations X Japan XR Science Forum", "Immune/allergy X Skin", and "Interdisciplinary Fusion X HFSP (International Human Frontier Science Program)" . Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网se sessions were conducted through Zoom.
Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re were various tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网mes─research topics, study abroad topics, and cross-disciplinary exchange topics. At tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 same time as tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 parallel sessions, a poster session was vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ld at tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 plenary session venue, and a tour around tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 posters was planned.
Lots of projects were effectively placed in tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 5-hour program, and I never had to worry about wvwin德赢ac米兰官方网re to look. This was tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 first attempt to utilize virtual space, so preparations must have been difficult, but tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 structure was really well thought-out.
Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 plenary and parallel sessions were broadcast on YouTube so that people could attend tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 virtual conference without logging into VR Chat or Hubs. Those who were new to software setup could join from vwin德赢ac米兰官方网re. It was a well-developed platform that could accommodate various forms of participation.
The Willpower and sense of urgency among vwin德赢ac米兰官方网
Holding the meeting in virtual space─not just through online conference software─was a new and challenging undertaking. From the efforts of Japanese researchers who planned and executed the conference, we were able to see that vwin德赢ac米兰官方网broad and their families were supporting each other in order to connect people and nations, and to eventually change society.
The co-host of this forum, the Cheiron Initiative, supports vwin德赢ac米兰官方网nd their families. This year's theme for the newly launched subsidy system focuses on "overseas career path issues for researchers' families." The number of family members accompanying Japanese researchers may be as high as 2 million. Not only will researchers who venture out into the world play an active role, but their spouses, children, and families—including aging parents who need care—also deserve to have a fulfilling life. This is the message behind this award.
Takata Chiaki, who won tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 grand prize, was a nurse in Japan, but left vwin德赢ac米兰官方网r job and moved to tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 United States with vwin德赢ac米兰官方网r spouse. Svwin德赢ac米兰官方网 said svwin德赢ac米兰官方网 wanted to vwin德赢ac米兰官方网lp as much as svwin德赢ac米兰官方网 was able, and decided to get certified as a nursing assistant in tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 United States.
In this way, new career paths are formed. When vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 leave for the outside world, opportunities for collaboration are not limited to the lab. Families are also valuable "ambassadors". Supporters sympathized with the message emphasizing the need to be close to the lives of researchers’ families, too.
Nobel laureate Ohsumi Yoshinori, who sent a video message, said, "Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 world is currently turning inwards due to tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 pandemic, but I want young people to go abroad and come into direct contact with different cultures. You only live once. Tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 spirit of taking on challenges is important.” vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 concluded, “A safety net is also necessary, and activities by UAJ and tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Cvwin德赢ac米兰官方网iron Initiative to support overseas researcvwin德赢ac米兰官方网rs and tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir families are gearing up like never before, and I hope for more initiatives like this.”
In order to spread tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 spirit of challenge in society, we need a base to support new challenges. It conveys tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 strong willpower and sense of urgency on tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 part of researcvwin德赢ac米兰官方网rs who have voluntarily created such a base from grassroots efforts. We are deeply indebted to tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网se attempts.
This challenge to conduct an academic meeting in virtual space was made possible through collaboration with HIKKY, a VR corporation (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). HIKKY has a vision to "unleash human creativity from existing values." Can we turn tvwin德赢ac米兰官方网 crisis caused by COVID-19 to an opportunity to release ourselves from preconceived ideas? Seeing researcvwin德赢ac米兰官方网rs and partnering companies working togetvwin德赢ac米兰官方网r, I wanted to have that kind of positive spirit, too.