ABSTRACT
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have serious impacts in our daily lives and habits and the effects of these technologies still rapidly increase during the last few decades. Especially wider use of technological tools, such as laptop computers, tablets or smartphones, points out an evolution towards a more mobile society. This transformation results in important progresses in diverse domains. Representation of urban environment can be considered as one of those areas that involve the use of Information Technologies.
Representing urban information may have several motives from making research to reach an effective solution for urban environments, using Geographic Information Systems or technologies like Remote Sensing; to making simulations in order to experience urban space that may also affect human sensorial perception, like in 3D virtual environments or Augmented Reality (AR). In this sense, visualization becomes one of the most effective methods of perceiving urban experience. Internet maps, mobile maps, 3D visualizations, street views, GPS, geo-tagging and Augmented Reality (AR) can be mentioned as some of the technologies that might facilitate visualization, visual perception and way finding in the urban environment. The increase in the number and the quality of the mobile instruments that provide tools for an easier perception of urban space is considerable especially during the last ten years.
From this perspective, this study aims to introduce a mobile application design named PerAR, that visualize urban experience in Beyoglu District (also known as Pera) in Istanbul, using mobile technologies and Augmented Reality (AR). PerAR proposes a hybrid design that includes first of all, a city guide departing from Lynch’s urban image analysis in Beyoglu District to present a bodily experience of the urban environment, involving not only the visual experience but also other senses, according to the views of Pallasmaa and Norberg-Schulz. Secondly, inspired by de Certeau’s “walker” and “voyeur” concepts, PerAR suggests an augmented reality application to re-animate the unseen in the urban area, such as ancient buildings or ruins, as well as future projections in urban space for the “walker” in order to reinvent the street level perceptual experience; and to simulate urban experience from a distance by tagging urban spaces and buildings to facilitate their perception for the “voyeur”. The interface of the application is designed with Xcode Interface Builder, and the augmented content is provided with Layar and Poiz.
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AUTHORS
Ilgi Hacihasanoglu
Res. Asst., Architectural Design Unit, Architecture Dpt., Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Sinan Mert Sener
Prof., Architectural Design Unit, Architecture Dpt., Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey |