What digital vulnerabilities are likely to emerge from mainstreaming immersive extended reality technology in the training of law enforcement?
Project Overview
Police services in England provide immediate assistance to individuals at a scene of emergency and/or potential criminal event. However, the significant reduction in policing resources means that training needs had to be made more efficient as well as effective.
Extended Reality (XR), including both virtual and augmented reality, is becoming prominent in many sectors for training and operations. Yet, in the rush to exploit the benefits of XR for immersive training, the potential digital vulnerabilities that may be exposed have yet to be properly examined.
RespondXR will consequently, for the first time, map the vulnerability space (i.e., its social, technical, legal, ethical risks and impacts), from the perspective of (a) those delivering the training, (b) the first responders who will be undertaking this training, and (c) the technical teams bringing forward new training methodologies in XR.
For updates about the project, please contact Prof. Jill Marshall at jill.marshall@rhul.ac.uk.
Aims & Duration
The project will explore the socio-technical challenges posed by the adoption of this technology, providing the foundations for further research on the safe, secure, and ethical use of immersive training technology for enhancing the response of policing in England.
The project runs from 1 November 2021 - 28 March 2022.
Structure
The project has social, legal and technical teams who meet regularly working together as an interdisciplinary team. They will conduct literature reviews, conduct expert interviews and focus groups, form XR scenarios, and provide legal analysis of the issues. Work produced will help in policy-making, practice, in terms of industry and society, strengthening research knowledge exchange for this technology.
Research Team
The project team members are listed below:
- Dr Leonie Tanczer (PI), Lecturer in International Security and Emerging Technologies, University College London;
- Professor David McIlhatton (Co-I), Professor of Protective Security and Resilience and Director of the Institute for Peace and Security, Coventry University;
- Dr Mark McGill (Co-I), Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction, University of Glasgow;
- Dr Lena Podoletz (Co-I), Research Fellow in Emotional AI and Smart Cities, University of Edinburgh.
- Professor Jill Marshall (Co-I), Professor of Law, Department of Law and Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London
Publications & Dissemination Activities
These will take place from March 2022 onwards with further information provided.
