3DWikiU - 3D Wiki For Urban Environments

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) systems may be used with great effectiveness in applications such as urban planning, virtual tourism, cultural heritage and education. In fact, the VR systems allow the visualization and interaction with 3D models, which can work as a natural metaphor due to their similarities with the objects that they intend to recreate. This is the perfect scenario for this project which intends to recreate virtual urban environments and complement them with digital services useful for people's everyday tasks. On the other hand, the implementation and management of a virtual environment is complex and requires a numerous development team with different skills to build it properly. The purpose of this project is to build a collaborative environment where the users have the power to contribute and edit objects in the referred environment, exploring the wiki concept. This paper presents a collaborative VR system that aims to provide a more natural and intuitive interface to access diversified services on 3D urban environments - 3D Wiki for urban environments. These services shall contemplate citizenship activities, entrepreneurship activities, promotion of the natural and cultural heritage and support of the cooperation and data sharing among citizens.