{"id":1171961,"date":"2026-05-14T09:17:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-project&#038;p=1171961"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:31:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:31:27","slug":"project-volano","status":"publish","type":"msr-project","link":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/project\/project-volano\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Volano"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"mb-3 moray-highlight\">\n\t<div class=\"card-img-overlay mx-lg-0\">\n\t\t<div class=\"card-background  has-background- card-background--full-bleed\">\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"woman with dwarfism\" style=\"object-position: 78% 23%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header.png 1920w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header-300x113.png 300w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header-1024x384.png 1024w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header-768x288.png 768w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header-1536x576.png 1536w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header-1600x600.png 1600w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_header-240x90.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<!-- Foreground -->\n\t\t<div class=\"card-foreground d-flex mt-md-n5 my-lg-5 px-g px-lg-0\">\n\t\t\t<!-- Container -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"container d-flex mt-md-n5 my-lg-5 \">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Card wrapper -->\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"w-100 w-lg-col-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- Card -->\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card material-md-card py-5 px-md-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-body \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"project-volano\">Project Volano<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018No AI about us, without us\u2019 \u2013 enabling communities to define their own preferred representation in AI generated media<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Project Volano is carrying out cross-disciplinary research to understand how we can value and utilize community perspectives throughout the whole of the AI pipeline. Our first use case is to support historically marginalized communities shape their cultural representation in AI generated media. This raises a host of research challenges from efficient training of AI models on the small amounts of data that people can provide to the development of new methods of evaluation for cultural representation. In each of these questions, we engage with the shifting and specific nature of cultural representation that challenges are common static, one-size-fits all approaches to scaling AI development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our focus has been on new methods for community-led processes of meaning-making, data curation & annotation, as well as community-specific evaluation that allow us to develop better models and evaluations. We have developed the Community Library Creator to help communities define their preferred representation and embed that in AI-interpretable data. Based on a Community\u2019s Library, we have developed a Community Scorer, an automated measure for how well an AI-generated image aligns with a community\u2019s preferred representation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"yt-consent-placeholder\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Video playback requires cookie consent\" data-video-id=\"sK831pFvSU4\" data-poster=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/sK831pFvSU4\/maxresdefault.jpg\"><iframe aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"Community Library Creator Demo Video V5\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/sK831pFvSU4?feature=oembed&rel=0&enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><div class=\"yt-consent-placeholder__overlay\"><button class=\"yt-consent-placeholder__play\"><svg width=\"42\" height=\"42\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><circle fill=\"#000\" opacity=\".556\" cx=\"21\" cy=\"21\" r=\"21\"\/><path stroke=\"#FFF\" d=\"M27.5 22l-12 8.5v-17z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><span class=\"yt-consent-placeholder__label\">Video playback requires cookie consent<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2030\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage.png\" alt=\"A collection of images showing people with various disabilities\" class=\"wp-image-1171980\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage.png 2030w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage-300x49.png 300w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage-1024x168.png 1024w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage-768x126.png 768w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage-1536x252.png 1536w, https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Volano_collage-240x39.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2030px) 100vw, 2030px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:44px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:64px; padding-top:64px\" class=\"wp-block-msr-immersive-section alignfull row has-background-gradient has-background-gradient-spectrum-4 wp-block-msr-immersive-section\">\n\t\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-msr-immersive-section__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"register-your-organization-s-interest-in-building-a-community-library-in-the-future\">Register your organization\u2019s interest in building a Community Library in the future<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a data-bi-type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=v4j5cvGGr0GRqy180BHbRycBhmM8V-JLmNmERuzBbJtUNk1GOVJEVjBQTkRWUUhNQldXOVNLMzBQTy4u\">Register your interest<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:45px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"open-sourced-community-libraries\">Open-sourced Community Libraries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Community Libraries provide training and evaluation resources to improve cultural representation in AI media generation models.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018No AI about us, without us\u2019 \u2013 enabling communities to define their own preferred representation in AI generated media Project Volano is carrying out cross-disciplinary research to understand how we can value and utilize community perspectives throughout the whole of the AI pipeline. Our first use case is to support historically marginalized communities shape their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1171986,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"research-area":[13556,13554,13559],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-1171961","msr-project","type-msr-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","msr-research-area-artificial-intelligence","msr-research-area-human-computer-interaction","msr-research-area-social-sciences","msr-locale-en_us","msr-archive-status-active"],"msr_project_start":"","related-publications":[1161082,1168498],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[],"related-groups":[],"related-events":[],"related-opportunities":[],"related-posts":[],"related-articles":[],"tab-content":[],"slides":[],"related-researchers":[{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Rita Faia Marques","user_id":43928,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"t-ritaf"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Melanie Fernandez Pradier","user_id":39943,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"melanief"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Martin Grayson","user_id":32893,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"mgrayson"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Camilla Longden","user_id":36311,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"calongde"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Cecily Morrison","user_id":31356,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"cecilym"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Anja Thieme","user_id":35948,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"anthie"}],"msr_research_lab":[199561],"msr_impact_theme":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/1171961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-project"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/1171961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1172067,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/1171961\/revisions\/1172067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1171986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1171961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=1171961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=1171961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-impact-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-impact-theme?post=1171961"},{"taxonomy":"msr-pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-pillar?post=1171961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}