XR DATA DRIVEN STORIES
Chapter I: Barcelona Flood
Seminar Faculty: Gus Zúniga & Mery Glez
Faculty Assistant: Daniil Koshelyuk

Credits: OutOfFormat

In different regions of the world, floods have increased dramatically due to climate change, affecting millions of people and inflicting huge economic damage. On top of this, the population living in flood-prone areas is increasing. Residents that live in low land areas or close to river banks are often highly vulnerable to flood hazards, especially when these hit urban areas. Urban Planning has a set of tools, like flood hazard maps, allowing to integrate sensorial data in a computational environment allowing risk assessment, modeling and decision support. 

However, a challenge with taking real-world actions for future scenarios, albeit dramatic and measurable as these, is it’s inherent disconnect from our experience. Extended Reality (XR) presents a powerful way to leverage computationally rich and data-driven environments in materializing these futures, while bridging sensorial inputs with logical data. This seminar discusses how story-telling via a medium of virtual environments can inform our high-impact decisions in data-driven contexts. Students will develop a proof of concept scenario, where mixed reality and urban planning are combined as a vehicle to solve this urban challenge.

Learning Objectives
At course completion the student will:

– understand the basics of XR technologies, including potential applications in the urban context.
– be able to identify high risk areas related to city management and city planning where natural disasters can affect vulnerable populations
– be capable of designing a real-situation project at proof of concept level, where Mixed Reality (AR/VR) is involved as a vehicle to solve that city challenge.
– be capable of research and use of open data for data processing and analysis purposes.
– deliver data visualization through virtual simulation.

Faculty

Gus Zúniga specializes in concept and execution of new XR digital products with a strong technology background. He has been working in the Digital and Mobile Industry since 13 years, always focused on scalability of new products, services and technical improvements and how these affect human interaction and growth economy.
Currently Gus leads the Head of Technology at LifeRoom, previously he has been working in a company that designs and develops data visualization platforms using XR technologies and geospatial data for public institutions and private sectors.
Links:
supercitys.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gus-zuniga-3b299640/

Mery Glez is a Video Designer and Creative Technologist @OutOfFormat, as well as a Coordinator of the Master in Design for Virtual Reality at IED Barcelona. She works designing ways of telling stories in physical and virtual spaces through audiovisual content for museums, fairs and festivals where the visitor plays an active role in history.
Links:
outofformat.com/ 
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mery-glez-95003912b/

Daniil Koshelyuk is an architect from Moscow, Russia exploring the intersection of physical and digital in built environments. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Advanced Architecture from IAAC. His interests center around creating smarter, more responsive and interactive environments by digitally enhancing architecture-related complex systems.
Links:
daniil.koshelyuk.site/
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dkfactotum