REPRESENTING CO-URBAN DESIGN REALITIES: Evaluating the emergent significance of spatial computing on collaborative practice

Spatial computing, e.g. AR-VR – connecting to wider computing, remains on the periphery of standard use in Urban Design practice and academia, for example from socioeconomics, planning, and architecture. This is despite great developments in mainstream accessibility and capability over the last decade, as well as a legacy of discussion on areas of potential revolutionary benefits to the collaborative urban design process. This study aims to better understand the practical scope of its current and future potential, including the underlying social contextual influences and strategic requirements. This research is situated within the complex, changeable conditions of Urban Design, which are concerned with unique, place-based conditions and involve an interplay of technical, cognitive, and social processes.

Methods: Participants’ perceptions and actions were captured through a sequence of interviews/focus groups with urban design practitioners, software developers, as well as live design testing of AR and VR by students and key practice stakeholders, as real-world connected events and design project case studies. The case studies acted as contextual containers, with data captured from a suite of mixed methods: audio-video, transcript, images, including analysis of external and headset video. The participants came from a range of backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of urban design experience and ability, including professionals and students, and non-design stakeholders, including members of the public. The approach of triangulating different data types captured from non-laboratory conditions enables evaluation across multiple analytical viewpoints, shedding light on some key social mechanisms that influence collaborative processes and products.

Results/Future Work - This study adds to an emerging, holistic perspective on how spatial computing is and might increasingly impact the practical and social dimensions of collaborative urban design as a process. This includes identifying key thematic and specific gaps in theory and capability, and defining their size, scope, and areas of potential development. This study argues that there is a need to frame areas for technical development towards appropriate urban design solutions, with greater consideration of the social context for design, including collaborative processes, specific interfaces, and interactive requirements. Simultaneously, it highlights that various ongoing technical issues present barriers that negatively influence social confidence and uptake, thus limiting our ability to conceptually push further toward aligned solutions. In conclusion, this study evaluates the key areas for further research that are needed to allow spatial computing to fulfil the much-claimed potential.