Integrating Digital Data into Greenway Planning with Augmented Reality

Digital technologies, such as geographic information systems, are an integral part of the greenway planning process. A wealth of new technologies is evolving that provide improved data for planning and methods for evaluating the temporal and spatial qualities of a place. Augmented reality is a technology that can improve and enrich the user’s greenway experience. Augmented reality (AR) systems merge computer-generated graphics with a view of the physical world by aligning or registering computer graphics with a place. (Azuma, 1997) AR systems do not create a simulation of the physical world; rather augmented reality takes a real object or space as the foundation and incorporates computer graphics that add contextual data, information and meaning to a real object or place to deepen a person’s understanding. The paper will provide a clear background of augmented reality (AR), how it is being applied today, and describes the potential AR applications for greenway users. The goal is to provide greenway planners’ with a vision for how greenways will be used and interpreted in the future by users of AR technology

Una tercera via... digital : noves tecnologies i creativitat a la Xina contemporània

La reforma econòmica i social de la Xina, iniciada a principi dels anys vuitanta, ha coincidit amb una revolució global en la creació i la difusió de continguts. A més de contribuir a la seva obertura a l'exterior i al seu espectacular creixement econòmic, a la Xina les noves tecnologies han ofert innovadores possibilitats per a negociar un context social i polític altament sensible, caracteritzat per restriccions en els continguts i les plataformes d'expressió. Tant els nous mitjans i formats de comunicació (blogs, xats, fòrums) com les tecnologies digitals de creació d'imatges (3-D, realitat virtual, realitat augmentada) han aportat flexibilitat i han esperonat usuaris, artistes i investigadors a trobar noves i creatives formes d'interacció amb la societat. L'article destaca la incidència d'aquestes noves plataformes i tecnologies amb relació amb dos aspectes: d'una banda, l'adequació de l'horitzontalitat i la flexibilitat de les TIC a la rapidesa dels processos de transformació social i política a la Xina contemporània, i d'altra banda, les condicions i oportunitats per a la negociació social de la història generades pel nacionalisme governamental, ocupat en un intens procés de revisionisme de l'època tardoimperial.The economic and social reform in China, which began at the start of the 1980s, has coincided with a global revolution in the creation and dissemination of content. As well as contributing to its opening to the exterior and its spectacular economic growth, new technologies in China have brought with them innovative possibilities for negotiating a very sensitive social and political context, characterised by restrictions on platforms for expression and content. Both new communication media and formats (blogs, chats, forums) and digital image creation technologies (3D, virtual reality, augmented reality) offer users, artists and researchers flexibility and encourage them to find new and creative ways of interacting with society. This article highlights the impact of these new platforms and technologies in terms of two aspects: on the one hand, the dovetailing of ICTs' horizontality and flexibility with the speed of the processes of social and political change in contemporary China; and, on the other, the conditions and opportunities for social negotiation of history coming from governmental nationalism, which is occupied with an intense process of Late Imperial revisionism

Testing times: Virtual heritage, 'time travel' and the user experience of museum visitors: a case study of an enriched time-based virtual heritage world

Time is fundamental to human experience - it is how we make sense of the world. Time is critical to place in general and heritage place in particular. As well as the built environment, it determines both the cultural context and the phenomenological affect experienced at a particular place at a particular time. This thesis argues that time-based virtual heritage supporting navigable time, or time travel with agency, offers two different but complementary opportunities for heritage learning. Going to a specific place at a specific time gives users an informed idea of what it was like then and travelling through time in a time-lapsed fashion reveals the changes that occur over time. Heritage is culture through time yet curiously time is almost entirely absent from virtual heritage despite the power of 3D computer graphics to support time-based virtual worlds. This thesis describes the creation and testing of a time-based virtual heritage world on a museum audience. Navigable time is shown to be a popular and powerful tool for creating affective experiences with virtual heritage and fostering engaging learning opportunities. Additionally this thesis argues for, and the findings support, the importance of providing users with a range of activities in a virtual heritage world