INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TOOL (INVITO): A WEB VISUAL TOOL FOR SHARING INFORMATION IN TERRITORIAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES

Territorial planning is the focus of considerable debates, which often develop into uncertain and vulnerable decision contexts. Numbers and quantitative information in fact often dominate the process of decision-making but they are not easily comprehensible through quick and simple reasoning. Nonetheless, the huge quantities of data that describe our cities and regions could provide excellent bases to analyze spatial data in order to assess territories and simulate future development scenarios. The application of innovative digital tools in the analysis of urban issues offers new advantages and opportunities for the improvement of communication values in policies and decision-making processes, concurring to overcome conventional approaches to territorial management. The paper describes the application of the Interactive Visualization Tool (InViTo), a web tool based on maps and visual analysis allowing data to be filtered, explored, interconnected and compared on a visual interface. Data visualization, intended as the way to see the unseen (McCormick et al., 1987), is here used as a new paradigm to highlight the positive and negative effects on spatial systems considering the impacts of choice-alternatives along multiple dimensions. The correlation between information and their localization generates an essential instrument for the knowledge of urban dynamics and resilience in answering to specific policies. The investigation of a number of case studies shows the possibilities and opportunities given by the use of InViTo in creating a shared knowledge between actors involved in decision-making processes and in offering a challenge for integrating new perspectives on the analysis of future cities and regions

INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TOOL (INVITO): A WEB VISUAL TOOL FOR SHARING INFORMATION IN TERRITORIAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES

Territorial planning is the focus of considerable debates, which often develop into uncertain and vulnerable decision contexts. Numbers and quantitative information in fact often dominate the process of decision-making but they are not easily comprehensible through quick and simple reasoning. Nonetheless, the huge quantities of data that describe our cities and regions could provide excellent bases to analyze spatial data in order to assess territories and simulate future development scenarios. The application of innovative digital tools in the analysis of urban issues offers new advantages and opportunities for the improvement of communication values in policies and decision-making processes, concurring to overcome conventional approaches to territorial management. The paper describes the application of the Interactive Visualization Tool (InViTo), a web tool based on maps and visual analysis allowing data to be filtered, explored, interconnected and compared on a visual interface. Data visualization, intended as the way to see the unseen (McCormick et al., 1987), is here used as a new paradigm to highlight the positive and negative effects on spatial systems considering the impacts of choice-alternatives along multiple dimensions. The correlation between information and their localization generates an essential instrument for the knowledge of urban dynamics and resilience in answering to specific policies. The investigation of a number of case studies shows the possibilities and opportunities given by the use of InViTo in creating a shared knowledge between actors involved in decision-making processes and in offering a challenge for integrating new perspectives on the analysis of future cities and regions

Inclusive processes: Concepts and Instruments for sharing the spatial information

The second thematic workshop within the SINERGI project (Turin, June 30 - July 2, 2015) is the final step of a process started several months before. A research team from SiTI (Turin, Italy) developed an instrumental method for structuring the aforementioned workshop following two parallel paths. The first path was methodological. It has been the fruit of the collaboration between SiTI and public institution of the City of Turin. The construction of the method focused on conceptual possibilities and choice of urban parameters for the building of different future scenarios for the case study area, a very large dismissed urban area with an industrial past and many future projects insisting on it. The second path was technical one. It concerned the issues needed to use the Interactive Visualisation Tool (InViTo) in order to achieve the planned tasks. A number of discussions emerged outlining possibilities and opportunities given by the use of interactive maps. After discussion and technical improvements, the application of the chosen method within the workshop in Turin provided a large number of outcomes: drawing planning options; discussions on the relationship between the policy-making and the choice of urban parameters; multi-disciplinary argumentations on the use of digital tools and on the human interaction with visual information

Inclusive processes: Concepts and Instruments for sharing the spatial information

The second thematic workshop within the SINERGI project (Turin, June 30 - July 2, 2015) is the final step of a process started several months before. A research team from SiTI (Turin, Italy) developed an instrumental method for structuring the aforementioned workshop following two parallel paths. The first path was methodological. It has been the fruit of the collaboration between SiTI and public institution of the City of Turin. The construction of the method focused on conceptual possibilities and choice of urban parameters for the building of different future scenarios for the case study area, a very large dismissed urban area with an industrial past and many future projects insisting on it. The second path was technical one. It concerned the issues needed to use the Interactive Visualisation Tool (InViTo) in order to achieve the planned tasks. A number of discussions emerged outlining possibilities and opportunities given by the use of interactive maps. After discussion and technical improvements, the application of the chosen method within the workshop in Turin provided a large number of outcomes: drawing planning options; discussions on the relationship between the policy-making and the choice of urban parameters; multi-disciplinary argumentations on the use of digital tools and on the human interaction with visual information

RAW FX

Nel corso degli ultimi cinquant’anni, si è assistito ad una progressiva industrializzazione del cinema: accurate ricerche di mercato e scelte commerciali strategiche
hanno preso il posto di arte e passione.
Da oltre vent’anni, sei studios cinematografici controllano il mercato, creando un oligopolio che scoraggia la sperimentazione e l’originalità, promuovendo un
modello di produzione seriale che ripropone personaggi, trame e mondi già esplorati, privando le nuove generazioni della meraviglia e dello stupore che il grande
pubblico ha provato nei decenni passati.
La tendenza del cinema Hollywoodiano di creare immagini sempre più sorprendenti richiede uno sproporzionato sforzo lavorativo agli artisti che si occupano degli
effetti visivi, costringendo a ritmi di lavoro estremamente serrati con pochissimo riguardo al benessere delle persone coinvolte.
Il settore degli effetti visivi non riceve un adeguato riconoscimento economico per la sua cruciale importanza nel processo di film making, causando addirittura
la bancarotta di studi pluripremiati di enorme prestigio.
Oggi, i giganti del settore abbracciano i vantaggi e benefici della filosofia Open Source allo scopo di condividere la loro arte, creando una comunità tale da resistere
alle pesanti pressioni dei mega-studios.
Da questa premessa nasce il progetto Raw FX, che si pone come obiettivo lo sviluppo di soluzioni dedicate alla realizzazione di effetti digitali in grado di ridurre
i tempi e i costi che tali operazioni comportano, riducendo il carico di lavoro degli artisti e consentendo allo stesso tempo a piccole produzioni di ottenere risultati
di alto livello.
Si è analizzato il flusso di lavoro del grande cinema al fine di individuare l’area di intervento adeguata. La soluzione proposta, pensata per un’industria sempre in corsa
contro il tempo, è stata progettata per essere realizzata con tecnologie di prototipazione rapida consentendone la realizzazione nel più breve tempo possibile; l’intera
progettazione è effettuata con strumenti free o open source, nella speranza di ispirare altri progetti con simile intento