The research aim of the IPCity project is to investigate analytical and technological approaches to presence in real life settings. Analytically, this includes extending the approaches to presence accounting for the participative and social constitution of presence, the multiplicity and distribution of events in time and space.
Technologically, this translates into developing portable environments for on-site configuration, mobile and light-weight mixed reality interfaces with the ambition to weave them into “the fabric of everyday life”. Methodologically, this calls for moving “out of the lab” with field trials in real settings, applying a triangulation of disciplines and methods for evaluation. These range from interpretative-ethnographic to quasi-experimental approaches and include cognitive science, social-psychological, and cultural-anthropological disciplines.
The vision of the IPCity project is to provide citizens, visitors, as well as professionals involved in city development or the organisation of events with a set of technologies that enable them to collaboratively envision, debate emerging developments, experience past and future views or happenings of their local urban environment, discovering new aspects of their city. This includes:
Extending analytical frameworks for presence, including the participative constitution of presence, the role of (shared) memory and mutual understanding, temporal fluctuations and interruptions (design for non-disruptiveness).
Developing an environment for MR interaction prototyping and a platform and toolkit for cross reality content authoring.
A range of building blocks and components ranging from mobile and lightweight mixed reality for situated participation to semi-stationary outdoor mixed reality environments that exploit the features of the surrounding physical environment.
More information on the IPCity Project can be found at the projects official website at www.ipcity.eu !
