Results of the cyberparks cost action tu 1306

The present abstract is aimed at describing the activities and results about Cyberparks COST Action TU 1306. The purpose of the action was to increase the knowledge about the existing relationship between Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Public Spaces, supported by strategies to improve their use and attractiveness. In such scenario, the project developed several case studies to develop best practices and digital tools able to collect information directly from the users, in real time. Indeed, sensors where installed in Public Spaces, as well as mobile applications that allowed to provide user’s with contextual information and Location Based Services and, at the same time, to collect the so called User Generated Data. In such way, people experiencing a certain place could enhance their knowledge and administration (or public authorities) could understand how user’s exploit it. Moreover, the project stimulated the use of new technologies like Augmented Reality as an additional service, useful to discover the surrounding and enhance the sense of presence of the users. CyberParks allowed to uncover opportunity and risks related to the use of ICTs via the appreciation, design and usage of public spaces. It exploited the benefits of interweaving a green experience with digital engagement via sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas, and analyzing public spaces.

The methodology developed can be of great interest especially for urban planning purposes; in fact, the pen-and-pencil approach for redesigning and rethinking a place can be partially replaced by a data driven approach, that can be more objective and reliable.

More than 50 scientific papers were published and very fruitful Short Term scientific missions. A great number of data was collected from real scenario, demonstrating the effectiveness of the methods adopted to conduct researches and experiment. Another noteworthy output of the project is the exploitation of a multidisciplinary group. In fact, the amalgamation of researchers coming from different scientific disciplines allowed to enhance the knowledge and strength cooperation between humanistic disciplines and digital sciences.