Call: Explorations of Trust in AR, VR, and Smart Devices – Facebook Research

Request for Proposals

Facebook Research
Explorations of Trust in AR, VR, and Smart Devices
https://research.fb.com/programs/research-awards/proposals/explorations-of-trust-in-ar-vr-and-smart-devices-request-for-proposal/

Applications due by June 12, 2020

Facebook is pleased to invite university faculty to respond to this call for research proposals on exploring unique challenges, threats, attacks, mitigations, and other considerations in the burgeoning space of AR, VR, and smart devices.

We believe in “trust” and trustworthiness as suitable terms for encompassing security, privacy, integrity, and ethics in the products and platforms we build. More and more unique products, use cases, and devices are coming to bear in this new space. It follows that with an entirely new category of technologies come entirely new possibilities and models for considering trust.

Facebook is soliciting proposals to help accelerate research in these fields with the hope of helping to foster a world of trustworthy mixed-reality and smart device products. There are fairly robust research fields in traditional computing paradigms from cloud to mobile, and we hope to drive similar progress in the fields of AR/VR.

We are interested in a broad range of topics relating to applications like AR glasses, VR headsets, other AR or VR form-factors, smart home products, and more. Examples might include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Novel threats, attacks, mitigations, or features in the areas of silicon, hardware, supply-chain, or anti-tamper in this space
  • Privacy-preserving techniques and engineering in the context of unique sensors and use cases
  • Developments involving trust in voice assistants, smart devices, smart home cameras, biometrics, and so on
  • Proposed operating system, platform, or device system concepts that offer improvements in the technological space
  • Novel concepts in terms of identity, authentication, authorization, abuse-prevention, and more, as they pertain to said devices and technologies
  • Perspectives on unique ethical or societal considerations and challenges posed by this technology, and suggested mitigations
  • Any novel or new concepts in trust as applied to the AR/VR and smart devices space that warrant further exploration

Applicants should submit a proposal detailing what contribution their research is expected to make, how the research domain will benefit from the work, a project timeline, and a budget overview of how the proposed funding will be used. Proposals are highly encouraged to focus funding of project personnel, especially PhD students. Proposals from small collaborative teams, particularly with PIs bridging necessary technical areas, are also encouraged.

A total of up to four awards are available, up to $75,000 each, depending on the specific requirements. Payment will be made to the proposer’s host university as an unrestricted gift.

PROPOSALS SHOULD INCLUDE

  • A summary of the project (1–2 pages) explaining the area of focus, a description of techniques, any relevant prior work, and a timeline with milestones and expected outcomes
  • A draft budget description (1 page) explaining how the funds would be spent
  • Names of the researcher(s) involved in the proposed work, their CV, and any previous or current connections/collaborations with Facebook
  • Organizational details. This will include the host university, tax information, and administrative contact details

ELIGIBILITY

  • Awards must comply with applicable U.S. and international laws, regulations, and policies.
  • Applicants must be current full-time faculty at an accredited academic institution that awards research degrees to PhD students.
  • Applicants must be the Principal Investigator on any resulting award.

TIMING AND DATES

  • Applications must be received by June 12, 2020.
  • Notifications will be sent by email to selected applicants by August 11, 2020.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Successful awardees will be listed on the Facebook Research website and will be encouraged to openly publish any findings/insights from their work.

GRANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Facebook’s decisions will be final in all matters relating to this solicitation, including interpretation of these Terms and awards at any time. While RFP awards are typically made through unrestricted gift letters (the terms of which are also contained herein), in some cases, funding may be provided through other mechanisms and subject to additional terms and conditions. All items apply unless otherwise stated above. Please Read These Terms Carefully Before Proceeding.

  • By submitting a proposal, you are authorizing Facebook to evaluate the proposal for a potential award, and you agree to the terms herein.
  • You agree that Facebook will not be required to treat any part of the proposal as confidential or protected by copyright, and may use, edit, modify, copy, reproduce, and distribute all or a portion of your proposal in any manner for the sole purposes of administering the website and evaluating the contents of the proposal.
  • You agree and acknowledge that personal data submitted with the proposal, including name, mailing address, phone number, and email address of you and other named researchers in the proposal may be collected, processed, stored and otherwise used by Facebook for the purposes of administering the website and evaluating the contents of the proposal.
  • You acknowledge that neither party is obligated to enter into any business transaction as a result of the proposal submission, Facebook is under no obligation to review or consider the proposal, and neither party acquires any intellectual property rights as a result of submitting the proposal.
  • Any feedback you provide to Facebook in the proposal regarding its products or services will not be treated as confidential or protected by copyright, and Facebook is free to use such feedback on an unrestricted basis with no compensation to you.
  • Applicants represent and warrant that they have authority to submit a proposal in connection with this RFP and grant the rights set forth herein on behalf of their organization.

See this page for additional Terms and Conditions.

APPLY

Apply here

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