Iterative Prototyping of Urban CoBuilder: Tracking Methods and User Interface of an Outdoor Mobile Augmented Reality Tool for Co‐Designing

This research presents results from a study developing a smartphone app, UrbanCoBuilder, in which citizens can collaboratively create designs for urban environments usingaugmented reality technology and game mechanics. Eight prototypes were developed to refineselected design criteria, including tracking strategies, design elements, user experience and theinterface with game mechanics. The prototypes were developed through an iterative design processwith assessments and incremental improvements. The tracking was especially challenging andusing multiple bitonal markers combined with the smartphone’s gyroscope sensor to average theuser position was identified as the most suitable strategy. Still, portability and stability linked totracking need to be improved. Design elements, here building blocks with urban functions textures,were realistic enough to be recognizable and easy to understand for the users. Future studies willfocus on usability tests with larger user groups

Can Games Motivate Urban Youth for Civic Engagement?

In this paper, we explore the possibility of using games as a way of engaging youth in environmentally-oriented participatory art or other cooperative urban projects. Our approach was design-led, and youth participated in evaluating games that we proposed from the perspective of motivation and engagement, both in the environmental issues in the games themselves and in the likelihood of subsequent real life involvement stimulated by the games. The findings show that ultimately, personal passion for the cause that the game represents, and not the game itself, would be the central factor in a youth’s decision to engage in real life. Social embeddedness was also valued high, as well as the possibility to make a real difference