This is funding to support a "ThinkTank" (workshop) of approximately 16 promising scholars from the United States plus up to 4 from abroad, for a total of 20, along with distinguished research faculty, in conjunction with the 2014 International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD 2014), which will be held June 22-25 at the PI's institution in New York City. ICAD is the premier international forum for presenting research on the use of sound to display data, monitor systems, and provide enhanced user interfaces for computers and virtual reality systems. It is unique in its singular focus on auditory displays and the array of perception, technology, and application areas that this encompasses; this includes, for example, data sonification, auditory wayfinding, auditory graphs, speech interfaces, virtual environments, and associated perceptual, cognitive, technical, and technological research and development. Many of the interdisciplinary research and development efforts are of direct relevance to persons with perceptual disabilities, especially visual impairments; for example, developing wayfinding systems for the blind requires research into effective distance cues and object identifiers used in auditory displays. Research into the efficacy of auditory graphs may be used to help visually impaired students and scientists participate more fully in science. Even household devices can have more effective auditory displays that provide richer information than the basic "beeps" they presently tend to have. A common approach in this field is universal design, wherein a display strategy is developed once, to be used by all kinds of users, including those with and without specific access issues. This year's conference theme is Big Data; more details about the conference are available online at http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/icad2014/.
The ICAD ThinkTank, a full-day event which will take place on Saturday, June 21 immediately preceding the conference, is open to graduate students at all stages of their educational program, including both Masters and PhD students. Exceptional undergraduates who have demonstrated interest in pursuing this field in their graduate careers may also be considered. Ten U.S.-based scholars will have their attendance fully supported by this award, while 6 more scholars local to the greater New York City area will be partially supported. The ThinkTank will bring together students from diverse backgrounds (e.g., engineering, computing, music, and psychology), so that they can experience the broad spectrum of approaches to auditory displays, assistive technologies and universal design. The ThinkTank will develop a supportive community of scholars and a spirit of collaborative research, by providing participants with a friendly and open, yet rigorous, scientific forum in which to present their research ideas, to listen to ongoing work from peer students, and to receive constructive feedback from a panel of distinguished experts. Panel feedback is designed to help students understand and articulate how their work is positioned relative to related research, whether their topics are adequately focused for thesis research projects, whether their methods are correctly chosen and applied, and whether their results are appropriately analyzed and presented. The ThinkTank will also offer invited speakers and discussion groups (e.g., to provide students with relevant information about important issues for doctoral candidates, whether they are considering academic or industrial career paths). Each student participant will furthermore present his/her work in a special poster session during the conference proper. An evaluation of the ThinkTank will be conducted, and the findings made available to the organizers of future conferences and consortia.
Broader Impacts: The ICAD ThinkTank will promote scholarship and networking among new researchers in an important emerging interdisciplinary area, and will help shape ongoing and future research projects that have clear and important implications for development of assistive technologies and universal access. The doctoral consortium will afford participants exposure to a larger community, allowing them to bond among themselves and with senior researchers at a critical stage in their professional development. Because the students and faculty constitute a diverse group across a variety of dimensions, including nationality and culture, scientific discipline, and institution (no more than two per university, and usually just one), the students' horizons are broadened to the future benefit of the field.
The 2014 ThinkTank Workshop achieved the following outcomes: Developed a group of promising young researchers dedicated to auditory displays and sonification, as well as universal access and universal usability; and provide them with a global network of researchers to support and mentor their professional development; Guided the research of these promising young researchers through contact with experts in the field; Enabled these young researchers to attend the ThinkTank and the main conference; Offered each participant fresh perspectives and comments on their work from researchers outside their own institution, including both faculty and other students; Provided a supportive setting for mutual feedback on participants.’ current research and guidance on future research directions; Allowed the student participants to contribute to the conference goals through interaction with other researchers and conference events; Allowed the students to learn of potential career paths within academia and industry; Illustrated the interrelationship of different aspects of non-traditional interfaces, auditory displays, and sonification through interaction among students and faculty with diverse research interests. Major Activities: The ICAD 2014 ThinkTank (Doctoral Consorium) assembled and supported 6 university/industry mentors, 12 US-based graduate students, and 4 international graduate students for a one-day (12 hour) workshop held on June 21, 2014 at NYU Steinhardt in New York City. Graduate student submissions were circulated among university/industry mentors in advance. This workshop provided time for each graduate student participant to present his or her research, and receive detailed feedback from a panel of mentors comprised of an international panel of faculty and researchers from an leading universities and industry. Student participants also shared their work with each other during the ThinkTank, as well as through a dedicated 2-hour opening reception poster event on the opening night of the ICAD 2014 main conference. This NSF award also provided students financial assistance and housing to attend the main ICAD 2014 conference which ran from June 22-25, 2014. Participants reported a high level of satisfaction with their experience at the ThinkTank event as reported by post-workshop questionnaires and personal feedback to conference leadership. Promotion and results from the ICAD 2014 ThinkTank event were disseminated to all attendees of the ICAD 2014 Conference and the membership of ICAD via email summary, and public recognition at the opening ceremony of ICAD. Summaries of student projects were shared via conference social media and posted on the public website of the ICAD 2014 conference. Graduate student project abstracts and short papers were published as part of the ICAD 2014 Proceedings. Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merit: Participants' experiences at the ThinkTank helped shape, refine and advance their ongoing and future research projects in the interdisciplinary fields of sonification and auditory display. The event promoted the scholarship of 16 emerging researchers, and helped socialize them into related fields of academic and industry research in this emerging interdisciplinary area. The ThinkTank provided new researchers constructive feedback on their work, and introduced established mentors and scholars to emerging research approaches.
