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An Asymmetric Virtual Reality Tool for Town Development

Tang, Andy LU (2020) MAMM01 20202
Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology
Abstract
Residents living in small towns that are a part of a bigger municipality may sometimes feel overlooked as they sense that they have lesser influence. Smaller towns may not have the resources or consider the need for integrating technology with the town, thus possibly making it harder for the residents to stay updated and be in contact with the town. By focusing on the residents' needs, a digitalised platform with desired features was developed. The digitalised platform was, besides serving as a tool to increase the sense of influence among the residents, extended with virtual reality to explore the usefulness of an asymmetric collaborative environment in a town development tool. Ultimately, the platform consisted of a touchscreen with... (More)
Residents living in small towns that are a part of a bigger municipality may sometimes feel overlooked as they sense that they have lesser influence. Smaller towns may not have the resources or consider the need for integrating technology with the town, thus possibly making it harder for the residents to stay updated and be in contact with the town. By focusing on the residents' needs, a digitalised platform with desired features was developed. The digitalised platform was, besides serving as a tool to increase the sense of influence among the residents, extended with virtual reality to explore the usefulness of an asymmetric collaborative environment in a town development tool. Ultimately, the platform consisted of a touchscreen with virtual reality integrated into the platform.

The structure and the development of the thesis was a result of a user-centred design process. The project was divided into 3 major phases, starting with the conceptual phase to identify the users' needs. Then, the prototyping phase, where the users' needs were transformed into Lo-fi prototypes, and ultimately a Hi-fi prototype. Lastly, the Hi-fi prototype was tested by users in the evaluating phase to identify usability errors and to gather user data as regards to the purpose and goal of the thesis.

The purpose of the thesis was to identify if asymmetric collaborative interactions between VR and a touchscreen could be used as a tool for professional use, and the usefulness of such a system. The data obtained from the research showed that asymmetric collaboration between VR and a touch screen is only a moderately useful concept, as the usability was not obvious in a city planning platform. However, the concept was well-received by the users. Given a platform that is developed solely for an asymmetric collaborative environment, the potential would increase tremendously. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Hade du velat gå hela vägen till stadshuset för att interagera med en interaktiv plattform där du kan göra allt från att kommunicera med kommunen till att få en överblick över staden? Hade du velat gå om plattformen var integrerad med Virtual Reality?
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Tang, Andy LU
supervisor
organization
course
MAMM01 20202
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Virtual Reality, Asymmetric Collaboration, Collaborative Virtual Environment, User-centred Design, Town Planning
language
English
id
9032928
date added to LUP
2020-12-18 14:12:04
date last changed
2020-12-18 14:12:04
@misc{9032928,
  abstract     = {{Residents living in small towns that are a part of a bigger municipality may sometimes feel overlooked as they sense that they have lesser influence. Smaller towns may not have the resources or consider the need for integrating technology with the town, thus possibly making it harder for the residents to stay updated and be in contact with the town. By focusing on the residents' needs, a digitalised platform with desired features was developed. The digitalised platform was, besides serving as a tool to increase the sense of influence among the residents, extended with virtual reality to explore the usefulness of an asymmetric collaborative environment in a town development tool. Ultimately, the platform consisted of a touchscreen with virtual reality integrated into the platform. 

The structure and the development of the thesis was a result of a user-centred design process. The project was divided into 3 major phases, starting with the conceptual phase to identify the users' needs. Then, the prototyping phase, where the users' needs were transformed into Lo-fi prototypes, and ultimately a Hi-fi prototype. Lastly, the Hi-fi prototype was tested by users in the evaluating phase to identify usability errors and to gather user data as regards to the purpose and goal of the thesis.

The purpose of the thesis was to identify if asymmetric collaborative interactions between VR and a touchscreen could be used as a tool for professional use, and the usefulness of such a system. The data obtained from the research showed that asymmetric collaboration between VR and a touch screen is only a moderately useful concept, as the usability was not obvious in a city planning platform. However, the concept was well-received by the users. Given a platform that is developed solely for an asymmetric collaborative environment, the potential would increase tremendously.}},
  author       = {{Tang, Andy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{An Asymmetric Virtual Reality Tool for Town Development}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}