Supporting the Formation of Communities of Practice: Urban Planning in the MR-Tent

Ina Wagner Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Maria Basile Université Marne-la-Vallée, France

Lisa Ehrenstrasser Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Valérie Maquil Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Jean-Jacques Terrin Université Marne-la-Vallée, France

Mira Wagner Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Abstract
We have developed a prototype of an integrated framework of tools, an MR application supporting a range of devices for collaborative multimodal interaction and individual expression. These tools allow groups of stakeholders in an urban project create and manipulate visual and auditory scenes, and mesh these scenes with the real environment of an urban planning site as an integral part of expressing and experiencing an evolving project. The technical infrastructure is housed in a specifically designed MR Tent (Figure 1), which allows bringing technologies that are normally available only in laboratory settings to the site of an urban project. On top of designing these tools in a user-centered design process, we have also developed an approach to supporting multiple interactions among the various agents (professionals, as well as lay people, referring to different temporal and spatial scales, representing various cultures) in real complex urban environments. We contend that when introducing participatory technologies, methods are needed that facilitate the constitution of multidisciplinary teams founded on public-private and local actors-global operators partnerships [Bourdin et al. 2006].

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Reference:	Wagner I., Basile M., Ehrenstrasser L., Maquil V., Terrin J.J., Wagner M. (2009). "Supporting the Formation of Communities of Practice: Urban Planning in the MR-Tent," Proceedings > Proceedings of ALPIS itAIS, Italy . Sprouts: Working Papers on Information Systems, 9(17). http://sprouts.aisnet.org/9-17
Keywords:	communities of practice, urban planning, research intervention, participatory technologies
Item Type:	Article - Volume 9 Article 17 (2009)
Language:	English
Email:	Ina Wagner (ina.wagner@tuwien.ac.at)
Related Link(s):	http://events.unitn.it/en/alpis09

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