MCSA at Stereopsia 2023: Bringing a Feminist and Citizen Science Perspective to XR Research

Migrants’ Citizen Science Association (MCSA) participated in Stereopsia 2023, where an abstract proposed by MCSA Founder and Chairperson Judy Love Malundo was selected for presentation in the scientific discussion. MCSA, represented by Love Malundo and Project Leader Macel Ingles, presented their work entitled “Extended Reality (XR) Research: A Citizen Science Approach” at Stereopsia’s Academic Conference, held 18–19 October 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.

On 19 October 2023, MCSA brought a different perspective to the discussion on Extended Reality (XR) research at Stereopsia’s Academic Conference in Brussels, Belgium. Represented by MCSA Founder and Chairperson Judy Love Gonzales Malundo, together with Project Leader Macel Ingles, the presentation, “Extended Reality (XR) Research: A Citizen Science Approach,” explored how people can become active participants in shaping the technologies that increasingly influence how we experience the world.

Love Malundo argued that XR research should extend beyond technology developers, professional researchers, and institutions. Those who experience these technologies — including migrants and other marginalized communities — should have opportunities to participate throughout the research process, from developing ideas and research questions to designing, testing, and evaluating XR technologies. This reflects the principles of citizen science, where citizens can take active roles in different stages of scientific research and contribute to the creation of new knowledge.

A central part of Malundo’s contribution was the introduction of a feminist framework for XR research. She questioned how existing forms of knowledge production can reproduce hierarchy, dominance, and exclusion, and highlighted the need to examine biases within XR research and technological design. These include Eurocentric, Western-centered, androcentric, sexist, racist, and monolithic perspectives.

Malundo introduced Virtual Reality Perspective Taking (VRPT) as an approach that can allow users to experience virtual bodies and environments different from their own. Drawing on virtual embodiment and embodied cognition, she discussed its potential to develop greater understanding of other people’s circumstances and to reduce biases and prejudices, particularly toward vulnerable groups. She stressed that VRPT should complement, not replace, real people and lived experiences.

For MCSA, genuine inclusion requires more than increasing the number of people involved in research. It requires recognizing communities as participants and contributors to knowledge formation. The presentation highlighted the importance of migrant involvement in citizen science to bring diverse perspectives into research and to challenge models of knowledge that can become Eurocentric, Western-centered, androcentric, or otherwise exclusionary.

During the presentation, Macel Ingles introduced MCSA’s core values, highlighting empowerment, honesty and integrity, diversity and inclusivity, integration, empathy, humility, respect, and fairness. These values provide an important foundation for MCSA’s approach to citizen science and reinforce the organization’s commitment to creating space for diverse communities in research and knowledge production.

MCSA’s engagement at Stereopsia reflected its broader commitment to making emerging technologies more inclusive by questioning not only who uses technology, but also who participates in defining the questions, producing knowledge, and shaping its development.

The presentation ultimately reflected a principle at the heart of MCSA’s work: technology becomes more relevant when the people affected by it are also given the opportunity to help shape it.