UD Co-Spaces

UD Co-Spaces is an interactive urban design public engagement tool that integrates a touch-table work surface with live-updated 3D visualizations and an indicators dashboard.

Project Profile

Sponsor
Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund
elementsLab

elementsLab Team
Ronald Kellett
Cynthia Girling
Maged Senbel
Michael van der Laan
John Salter

Computer Science Team
Kellogg Booth
Yvonne Coady
Tianming Wei
Narges Mayhar
Tao Su (beta version programming)
Jennifer Fernquist (alpha version programming)
Karen Wong
Isaac Ho
Siyi Cathy Meng
Jialiang Xiang
Mohammed Dewji

UD Co-Spaces is a prototype urban design visualization and engagement tool for engaging diverse audiences of planners, designers and the public in generating and testing urban planning and design options. This tool includes a large touch screen user interface set into a standing height table, and both projected and hand-held display interfaces. Custom software links four independent applications: online maps, elementsdb, 3D visualizations and an indicators dashboard.

Designed for rapid experimentation by small groups of people, users can test ideas for urban design. The user simply drags images of selected “cases” from elementsdb, for example a residential building, from a sidebar onto the digital map on the work-surface. The indicators dashboard immediately reports on metrics such as numbers of dwellings, floor areas, energy usage, while a 3D view appears on the wall projection. Records of every iteration can be captured for later reference and comparison.