Public participation in urban design with augmented reality technology based on indicator evaluation

Abstract

Decision-making processes in traditional urban design approaches are mainly top-down. Such processes have defects including not only taking a long time to examine design results but also leading to irreversible impacts after design implementation. Policymakers and researchers stress the importance of collaborating with different stakeholders in the process of urban design policy and guideline making in order to minimize these negative impacts. However, introducing public participation into urban design from the bottom up is challenging, especially when the process involves abstract urban design concepts such as indicators. This paper explores a new workflow aimed at enhancing public participation to cooperate in urban design work with the help of a newly designed platform tool powered by mobile augmented-reality technologies. The platform is intuitive to use and displays scenes of potential urban design results by superimposing the virtual models onto real-world environments on mobile devices. The public stakeholders are provided with this platform on-site to evaluate the initial values of urban design indicators by interacting with the prototype design along with an immersive experience. They can also grow familiar with the concepts of the given indicators during this process, which helps them better understand the implications of guidelines in future published urban design drafts and estimate the potential results. Their feedback is collected, which can help urban designers further optimize the indicators in urban design guideline making in order to improve their rationality. This process of urban design involving public participation is repeatable, which makes it possible to continuously adjust the design results. A user study was conducted to examine the platform’s usability and its ability to enhance public familiarity with the concepts of given indicators and their willingness to participate in urban design evaluation. The study also attests to the possibility of a workflow that integrates public feedback with the urban design process.

Architectonic Design Supported by Visual Environmental Simulation—A Comparison of Displays and Formats

“…The statistical analyses applied were based on the normality of the data for each variable, which were assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test. Due to the non-normality of the data (K-S, p < 0.05), the comparison between both groups (gender: male vs female/age: 20-35 vs. [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] was made through a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test (also referred to as the Wilcoxon rank sum test). The Mann-Whitney U test is a non-parametric method to detect whether two samples come from the same distribution, or to test whether the medians between comparison groups are different.…”

“…In the architecture and urban planning fields, these new forms of representation have been studied in different contexts and from different perspectives. Some studies have focused on the different phases of architectural and urban design practice, including maintenance [40], resource management [41], construction [35], architectural design [42], urban planning [43] and design communication [44], where they are beneficial tools given the importance of representations in the design phase [45], and even more so in participatory processes [46,47]. Representations must be able to faithfully reflect the specific context to which they are applied [48], but digital media are very efficient due to their inherent flexibility [42].…”

Enhancing user experience in large language models through human-centered design: Integrating theoretical insights with an experimental study to meet diverse software learning needs with a single document knowledge base

“…Some research explores the way to encourage public early participation in public decision making or affecting users' climate-controlling behavior by using new technology, such as augmented reality (AR) [19] and virtual reality (VR) [20], which are also applications of HCAI. Research by Seffah and Andreevskaia [21] developed a skill-oriented program towards developers and students based on analyzing UCD knowledge and techniques.…”

Visual Design and Evaluation of Public Space Scene Based on Virtual Reality Technology

“…It encompasses various elements such as layout, color, typography, and imagery to create a cohesive and engaging visual experience [1]. The designing a website, a poster, or a brand identity, visual designers use their creativity and understanding of design principles to captivate audiences and convey information in a clear and compelling manner [2]. Public space design augmented by virtual reality (VR) technology presents a transformative approach to urban planning and architecture.…”