Interactive urban design using integrated planning requirements control

Urban planning and urban design are separated disciplines. As a consequence, there is hardly any feedback from the urban design process to the urban planning process. To improve interaction between these two, an interactive urban design (IUD) tool has been developed. The tool is implemented in a Desk-Cave allowing for direct manipulation of masses and with immediate feedback on the urban planning programme performance. In a small-scale experiment, the tool proved to improve compliance of the urban design with the planning requirements without obstructing the design process

Interactive urban design using integrated planning requirements control

Urban planning and urban design are separated disciplines. As a consequence, there is hardly any feedback from the urban design process to the urban planning process. To improve interaction between these two, an interactive urban design (IUD) tool has been developed. The tool is implemented in a Desk-Cave allowing for direct manipulation of masses and with immediate feedback on the urban planning programme performance. In a small-scale experiment, the tool proved to improve compliance of the urban design with the planning requirements without obstructing the design process

Developments in Bioremediation of Soils and Sediments Polluted with Metals and Radionuclides - 3. Influence of Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability on Contaminants Immobilization/mobilization Bio-processes

The biotransformation of metals is an exciting, developing strategy to treat metal contamination, especially in environments that are not accessible to other remediation technologies. However, our ability to benefit from these strategies hinges on our ability to monitor these transformations in the environment. That's why remediation of contaminated sediments and soil requires detailed in situ characterization of the speciation of the toxic substances and their transformations with respect to time and spatial distribution. The present paper gives an overview of the literature regarding research performed in the laboratory as well as in the field

Soil and Sediment remediation, mechanisms, technologies and applications

Technologies for the treatment of soils and sediments in-situ (landfarming, bioscreens, bioventing, nutrient injection, phytoremediation) and ex-situ (landfarming, bio-heap treatment, soil suspension reactor) will be discussed. The microbiological, process technological and socio-economical aspects of these technologies will be addressed. Special attention will be given to novel biotechnological processes that utilise sulfur cycle conversions, e.g. sulfur and heavy metal removal from soils. Also the potential of phytoremediation will be highlighted. In addition, treatment schemes for the clean-up of polluted megasites, e.g. harbours and Manufactured Gaswork Plants (MGP), will be elaborated

The Tangible Interface : experiments as an integral part of a research strategy

The Human-Computer interface is crucial to good design support tools. It has to be non-interruptive and non-distracting, yet allow the architect to interact with the computer software.The physical reality of the interface, such as the shape and manipulability of devices like the mouse, keyboard, joystick, or dataglove, has to be mapped on actions and commands in the software. Already the current user interfaces are felt to be inadequate for a good support of design, and the functionality of design tools is growing, requiring even more and new physical interface devices. In this paper, we present research on new tangible interfaces for architectural design support. In particular, we focus on the research methodological question how to investigate such devices. The research strategy is introduced and discussed, after which concrete implementations of this strategy are shown. Based on this work, we conclude that the combination of interface and the context of its use in terms of design method and user needs form crucial aspects for such research and cannot be considered separately