Augmented and Top-projected Visualisation of Real-time Data on a City-scale Model
QUT Signature Project 2014 – 2015
Being able to effectively visualise data related to the urban environment is increasingly important to the work of urban planners, design professions and government policymakers. Existing screen-based techniques for data visualisation can be a poor fit for this kind of work however, because they make it difficult to relate the data to the physical urban form.
This project studies novel approaches to urban data visualisation by augmenting QUT’s existing physical architectural scale model of Brisbane with live data feeds which are overlayed through augmented reality and top-projection visualisation approaches. Currently the model displays static information on the built form, but its accuracy would not only support the display, but also the generation of different types of data.
Creating an interactive platform to engage the community with the physical model will allow us to visualise complex processes that are changing the urban environment such as proposed new developments, traffic flows, uses of public spaces and the impacts of cultural and historic events on the city’s infrastructure. The platform will also serve as a means to gather new data, feedback and ideas on proposed transformations of the built form. The platform enables QUT researchers to showcase real-time and simulated data directly on the city model, to test or forecast impacts of urban policy proposals, new development projects or even demographic shifts or industry change. The project comprises the installation of a demonstrator visualisation system that will allow us to visualise multiple static and real-time data sources through both top-projection and augmented reality viewers.
Data visualisation is of increasing importance to local governments, urban planners, developers and community groups around the world. The augmented model is a generic platform that can be adjusted to use multiple datasets and serve many different constituents. There is huge potential for further development of visualisations of different kinds of data and relevance to a wide range of possible funding partners. As such this project serves as a concrete showcase to industry and government partners who would either like to utilise our facility or work with us to apply our expertise in interactivity and visualisation to their own future projects.
Team
