City in The Box - CTB Helsinki 2003 An experimental way of storing, representing and sharing experiences of the city of Helsinki, using virtual reality technology, to create a navigable multimedia gallery space. Mikko Berg, Aki Hiltunen, Miikka Junnila, Joanna Saad-Sulonen Media Lab, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
1. Platform 1.0 Genre This project relates to the general genre of representation of existing space into virtual reality, using VRML. There are currently numerous examples of virtual cities on the Internet (virtual Helsinki for example can be found at http://ias.trident3d.net/elisa/tes-b/3d/helsinki.wrl), but these examples seem to concentrate more on only modelling (more or less precisely) the built aspect of the city. We are distancing ourselves from these more classical VRML cities that don t really give any idea of how the life and the urban culture of the city actually is. We are more inspired by such experiments as City Tomography (A web-based project to translate an existing urban space (Ginza, Tokyo) into a cyberspace information city -- http://www.plannet-arch.com/ct/index.htm), Jeffrey Shaw s Legible City and Flavia Sparacino s City of News. These projects nevertheless stress on the concept of information city, whereas we are emphasising more the representation of the genius loci -the spirit of the place- of the city, with its human aspect and urban experiences. Representation of the city of Helsinki and of urban life, in virtual space: City in The Box is a cultural project accessible to all over the Internet. It is an experiment in representing the Helsinki we know, using VRML and investigating the design parameters needed for the creation of a 3D space of exploration, inspired by a real space. 1.1 A documentation artefact This work is trying to capture our view of Helsinki as it is today, by recording chosen parts of it into virtual space. The idea is to create a 3D multimedia map of our Helsinki experience in 2003. The documentation aspect of the project is captured at a particular time, where as the interactive experience is not bound to time, but is user-dependant. We are using the metaphor of a box of images and sounds. The box contains memories of our experiences of the city. Putting the city in a box also refers to the contemporary cities becoming more and more like independent worlds of their own (cf. Castell s network of cities 1 ) 1.2 A navigation interactive experience On another level, the project explores different perspectives to Helsinki: personal viewpoints propose a certain reading of urban experiences. The project is built as a free navigation zone : navigating in VRML gives the user total freedom of movement in any direction. We do not represent the real world in virtual reality, just as it is: we want to take advantage of the fact that in virtual reality, there is no gravity and the user doesn t use his/her body to explore the space. 1 Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society
Scenario: 1- Start at the centre of the cube, the project s origin point (0, 0, 0), with a chaos of images and sounds 2- Explore/navigate (the soundscape changes as one moves towards one face of the box) the pictures further away from the starting point (centre of the cube) seem to have more images of human beings 3- Some point sounds are triggered if one approaches certain images 4- If one gets closer to the images of one side of the cube some sounds get more volume and at a certain point, the translucent walls supporting the image disappear, revealing a video running on the side of the cube: the video shows a scene involving human beings (the inhabitants of the city) 5- Messages/text are present behind the picture: one can see them if one turns around 6- One can get outside the box through the space left open between the sides of the box: the viewpoint of the viewer is then automatically changed into one looking towards the cube, at a certain distance from it: the box containing the city is seen as a self standing object in space. 1.3 Requirements Optimal results obtained with: OS: Windows XP Screen Resolution: 1280 x 1024 Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0 Plug-ins: the web browser needs to have a VRML plug-in (for example Cortona) 2. Semantics 2.1 Complexity of urban life: public and private The city environment might at first seem chaotic: an amalgam of shots of the city arranged in a seemingly ordered grid that isn t apparent because of its unordered explosion in the 3rd dimension. Starting from this chaotic display of images and sounds, we move towards the realm of the complexity of human emotions. The complexity of the city and of city life is the theatre of complex emotions. The box becomes a map of the city and a map of our feelings triggered in the city. We are reminded of Adriaan Gauze s 2 views on the city inhabitants: the inhabitants behaviour can no longer be pre-programmed since it is based on anarchy, exploration and self-expression. Starting from the original chaos of the city, one is free to navigate and choose a direction to follow (guided by the images and sounds). Finally, one enters the privacy of the individual (the individuality of each person exists even in the homogenizing urban mass); a video shows a scene of everyday life representing one of the axis emotions. 2 in Baart Lootsma s article in Mutations
Seen from outside, the box containing the city refers to the cities/nodes of the information age that Manuel Castells talks about: the world is moving towards being a network of cities, connected through different networks. 2.2 Emotional axis Each side of the box concentrates on a certain facet of Helsinki: each two opposite sides represent the extremes of a state of mind or emotion. These emotions were chosen because they seem to be commonly experienced by the urbanites, during their interaction with the city and city life. Each extreme is given a corresponding colour. The chosen colours association with the different emotions is culturally defined. Happiness axis happy: yellow sadness: purple Comfort axis dangerous: red comfortable: green Activeness axis active: orange calm: blue
3. Design Process and the Elements of User Experience 3.1 Internal goals: Personal interest in doing this exploration: 1. Experiment with possibilities offered by VRML and integration of multimedia components, such as sounds, images and moving image. 2. Investigate possibilities in representing urban space and urban culture. 3. Collect the information to the virtual world by documenting the Helsinki of today / cities of the information age. 4. Experiment with addressing spatial experience in designing virtual reality. 3.2 User needs and usability issues It was thought that the user hopes for as little technical difficulties in usability of the environment as possible. The use of VRML and the existing plug-ins pose certain restrictions: navigation has to be straightforward to avoid annoying the user. Walls, for example, should not limit the navigation because they can be gone through in VRML. This frustrates the user if he gets trapped in a non space or a non designed space behind a wall. The biggest reason to test the environment was the hope to experience something new. Virtual Reality is a well-known concept to many, but is not such a familiar experience on the practical level. This three-dimensional virtual space is trying to act as a new means for experiencing virtual reality. 3.3 Design Process 1. Gathering information and material: - We started by discussing our own experiences of Helsinki and deciding which emotions we most relate to these experiences and which areas of Helsinki we would like to document. - We organized excursions during April 2003 in the areas of our choice, keeping an eye and ear open for taking pictures and recording sounds. - We decided on little scenarios for the 6 videos. The videos where shot during one day - All the materials were edited and then organized by theme (the emotion axis themes). 100 pictures were chosen for each theme (600 pictures in total). During this time, the VRML model was started. 2. Building the model: - The ArchiCAD model of the box and its inner exploded grids was built. The spatial design was done at that stage, still using ArchiCAD. - The model was exported to VRML. - Adjustments were made to the model by hand coding VRML in order to get optimal results for viewing the model on browsers (scaling of the model). - Pictures, sounds and videos were added to the model.
a- section of the ArchiCAD model b- The 3D ArchiCAD model
3.4 Functionalities A. Sounds There are (1) point sounds that exist in particular ellipsoidal volumes in the virtual space. They are recorded sounds in wav-format to be played when the user enters the volume. The level of sound increases when the user gets closer to the centre of the ellipsoidal volume. There are also (2) ambient sounds that are played as continuous loops. These sounds were recorded and edited so that they wouldn t have distinct high volume or pitched peaks. All the ambient sound centres are placed in the middle of each side of the big cube. The first sound type to be encountered is (3) artificial beats that work as ambient sounds, but they are not record but created electronically. They are placed similarly, but they have bigger radius, they therefore start closer to the centre.
B. Field of View (FOV) The 600 pictures taken constitute most of the visual material. Each picture is laid out on a tower (smaller cubicle). These towers are partly transparent and coloured according to the emotion the side is reflecting. Behind the towers there are movies (without sound) displayed on the whole side of the cube. Parts of these movies can be seen from between the pictures. This attracts the user s attention and might encourage him/her to go in the direction of the side where the movie is playing. The user can move towards any picture of this virtual gallery and can go closer to the movies to see them. In the current model there are not yet moving objects or any decisions to be made by choosing an object. 3.5 Interaction Design First when trying out this virtual space, the user encounters many pictures on different geometries and different overlapping artificial musical beats. The user is placed in the middle of a cube. The interest to start exploring is triggered by the richness of the audiovisual information in the environment. Free movement conveys all the interaction there are in the current model. The field of view and directed soundscape change according to navigation better described in section 1.2. There are also specific point sounds and background movies in certain spaces to be explored. 3.6 Information Design: Interface and Navigation (Also see section 1.3 on the navigation experience) Using VRML as the project platform, the navigation is bound to given interface that facilitates VRML moving standards: WALK-, FLY- and EXAMINE-mode. With this navigation, it is difficult to move in predefined paths and therefore it was decided not to guide user with restrictive objects. The movement is free flying in environment, where even visible surface are not restricting movement. Going through a surface just gives new view. There are no black spaces, such as inside default VRML cube. 4. Ideas for further development 4.1 Adding information - Adding interactivity: the user can upload his/her images/poems of Helsinki 4.2 Different semantics - The same structure can be used for personally created worlds with new logics and audio-visual content. 4.3 Other cities - Creating other Boxes for other cities: all cities will be floating in one same universe
5. References: Marcel Duchamp s Large Glass Mutations, ACTAR arc en reve, centre d architecture Manuel Castells: The Rise of the Network Society Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities Jasse James Garrett The Element of User Experience, 2000: http://www.jig.net/ia/