Project Grant 2318486

This National Science Foundation award of $150,000 provides funding for a two-year project grant to Arizona State University under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070). The project aims to develop a software analysis framework to detect and mitigate security and privacy risks in augmented reality mobile applications. Specifically, the university researchers will conduct static and dynamic program analysis focused on unique augmented reality elements like trackables and anchors. This analysis will model application behaviors to identify potential abuses of camera access and screen manipulation privileges. Anomaly detection techniques will also be developed to flag read and write anomalies. As part of the work, the researchers will evaluate a large number of existing augmented reality apps to uncover vulnerabilities and assess the effectiveness of the new analysis methods. The project's outcomes seek to enable more secure augmented reality software and systems through improved access controls and a deeper understanding of privacy and security issues.