A cadre of researchers,
digital library and computer scientists
are creating a web-based video library to encourage widespread data sharing in the behavioral sciences where video
is commonly used but rarely shared.
Databrary,
the largest open-source video-data sharing project of its kind, will let
researchers store and openly share videos
and related information about their studies, according to the organization. Researchers
and clinicians can use Databrary to browse, download and re-analyze video data.
The goal of the National Science Foundation and
National Institutes of Health-sponsored project is to accelerate
the pace of scientific discovery and make more efficient use of public
investments in scientific research. To better understand the complexities
of behavioral development, scientists analyze an average of 12 hours of video
per week. But researchers and clinicians seldom share this recorded data,
experts said.
"By creating tools for open video data
sharing, we expect to increase scientific transparency, deepen insights and
better exploit prior investments in developmental and behavioral
research," said Karen Adolph, a member of the Databrary team and professor
of psychology and neural science at New York University.
Video data sharing will open up a whole new world
of big data research to developmental
scientists, noted Adolph, whose research examines the process of learning and
development in infant motor-skill acquisition.
"Because raw video data are so rich and
complex, research teams will be able to access a wealth of data from studies around the world and pursue countless
lines of inquiry into behavior and its development," Adolph said.
"Researchers can build on each other's efforts to learn from prior
examples, test competing hypotheses, and repurpose
data in ways unimagined by the original researcher."
Other leading members of the team include Rick
Gilmore, associate professor of psychology at Penn State, and David Millman,
director of Digital Library Technology Services at NYU.
"Video can be combined with other data
sources like brain imaging, eye movements and heart rate to
give a more complete and integrated picture of the brain, body and behavior,”
said Gilmore, who studies visual perception and brain
development at Penn State.
In addition to the web-based data library, the
project also involves enhancing an existing, free,
open-source software tool called Datavyu, that researchers can use to score,
explore and analyze video recordings, team members said. Using the Datavyu
tool, researchers can mine video recordings for new information
and discover previously unrecognized patterns in behavior, the researchers
said.
Videos
contain faces and voices, so only authorized researchers who have signed a
written agreement with Databrary will have full access to the library. People
depicted in recordings also must give written permission for their information
to be shared.
The Databrary project is part of a series of big
data and data science initiatives underway at NYU. The university's Division of
Libraries and Information Technology Services are providing infrastructure and
curation support in a close partnership with the project. Databrary will
be housed at NYU. Other project partners include NYU's Center for Data Science
and Penn State's Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center.
Databrary also provides a response to the growing
federal mandate for the management and sharing of data from federally funded
research, officials said. The NIH's support comes from the Eunice
Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
"I am very excited that NICHD is supporting
this endeavor," said Lisa Freund, branch chief for the child development
and behavior branch. "Databrary has tremendous potential for enhancing
developmental behavioral science and facilitating discoveries that wouldn't be
possible without such a sharing infrastructure.
By Rutrell Yasin
