Showcasing the transformation of transport in Cornwall through Virtual Reality

Digital Urban is partnering with Mid Cornwall Metro to engage the Cornish community in its revolutionary plans for train travel throughout Cornwall delivering three state-of-the-art digital experiences at events in Newquay and Penryn.

We’re showcasing planned and proposed transport infrastructure updates through a Virtual Reality hot air balloon across the county; through a hand-held ‘game’ and via a large media table. These will help the community to visualise the positive impact the changes could have to their community – and hopefully allay any community concerns.

When the Mid Cornwall Metro team was awarded £50 million from Levelling Up funds, they wanted to bring the community on the journey with them and commissioned Digital Urban to work with them on engagement. Our team will co-host primary and secondary schools sessions to gain feedback from the Cornish residents of tomorrow before opening up the experience to the wider community.

We have collaborated with the Mid Cornwall Metro delivery partners – Cornwall Council, GWR and Network Rail to create accurate 3D builds of x miles of Cornwall. Project lead for the VR build Jan Palusinski described the scale of the project.

“We pushed the boundaries of VR on this project because of the scale of the area we mapped in conjunction with the degree of reality we modelled to, the fact it’s interactive and because participants are flying up high – so they see a massive area of it which means it has heavy processing requirements.

Even on a small scale VR can be very demanding and optimizing the project was challenging but we’ve done so to the best of our ability, everyone on the team has put their skill and experience to a test and has done an amazing job.”

We know from our experience collaborating with county councils and with Network Rail that our digital experiences attract different people to engagement events – and helps them to truly understand what is proposed and to see how their feedback can change the plans.

More information about the project and consultation events in Newquay and Penryn can be accessed here.

Press releases and news updates

DIGITAL TWINS - A WEBINAR FOR DIGITAL LEADERS MONTH 2023

Join our Founder and CEO Simon Mabey on 21 June for a talk about Digital Twins during Digital Leaders Month.

Simon's talk is a must see for those interested in urban design, planning and public engagement in regeneration.

Simon will chat about the technology and how the latest developments in gaming technology are making digital twinning accessible to towns. He will share Digital Urban's experiences in using VR to attract a wider demographic, making the planning process more enjoyable for everyone.

A Session By Simon Mabey (Founder and CEO, DigitalUrban.Place)
Broadcasts 21 June 2023, 1:00 PM BST

Book your place below

https://week.digileaders.com/talks/digital-twins-for-towns-to-create-a-more-enjoyable-planning-process/

VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE OPEN DAYS

We're hosting two open days on 12 and 14 May at the Riverside Business Park in Bakewell. They are to say a big thank you to all our neighbours, businesses, builders, engineers, friends, family and volunteers who've helped us grow over the last few years.
 
Find out about how 3D technology can shape better places to live, work and play and try out our virtual reality experiences for FREE.

Come along and put on a VR head set and have a go at pedalling a pedalo along the Mersey and fly along Farnham High Street wearing a virtual jet pack. It’s also your chance to explore a virtual train station of the future. Listen to announcements and see what it feels like at different times of day and in different weather.
 
Everyone is welcome to come and have a go at our unit on Riverside Business Park in Bakewell. We are based in Unit F3 (opposite the Tin Hut Cafe and in same building as Trek). Look out for our banners. 
 
We are open from 10-6pm on Friday 12 May and 10-5pm on Sunday 14 May.
 
We hope you can pop by.

FREE WEBINAR - USING VR AND 3D MODELS FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS, 27 April, 11am.

Join our Founder and Director Simon Mabey for a FREE webinar on Thursday 27 April at 11am. Simon will chat about how easy it is to use open source data to create 3D models and digital twins of your area and to create virtual reality experiences to help increase participation and widen the demographic involved in your public consultations. Plans for new buildings and infrastructure really come alive when placed in 3D models of existing townscapes and VR is a great way for all age groups to view and comment on them in a fun and engaging way. The webinar will last for around 45 minutes with plenty of time to ask questions about how your authority could benefit from this new technology.

The link for the event is https://teams.live.com/meet/9465443159287. If you have any questions or would like any more info in advance, please drop us a line - Bernard@digitalurban.place

FREE ONLINE SEMINAR, 3D MODEL DEMONSTRATION, TUESDAY 7 MARCH 11AM

Discover the benefits of using Digital Urban 3D models to support design consultation and public engagement on your regeneration plans. Our founder and Director Simon Mabey will give a live demonstration of Wirral Council’s new enlarged 3D model and chat through how they are being used by local authority partners, from Berwick-on-Tweed to Newquay.

Simon will explain why and how 3D models are being used and the benefits of our unique approach to 3D models and owning your own model, rather than paying for expensive subscriptions. We will also explore how the models can be used to support public engagement events, enabling a wider range of people to see and feel what developments could be like.

3D models are proving invaluable in planning applications by allowing virtual models of new developments to be inserted into existing locations to demonstrate the proposals during consultation much more successfully than by using traditional architectural drawings. Many people find drawings very difficult to understand making 3D the new standard for the future. The models can also be a dynamic repository for data links to a wide range of information including flood risk, air pollution, heritage information, planning history, health and safety files.

Using the latest software and data sources can make 3D models affordable for any local authority. The 3D model is built to accessible standards and you take full ownership so that architects and developers can pay a small fee to load their models in. Such local collaboration (under your control) keeps the model up to date.

We hope you can join us to find out more. To register your interest and for any questions about the webinar and our services please email bernard@digitalurban.place or use the details below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84363526988?pwd=MHI4TDdlUTV0bTNSTjhLYS9ER0dHZz09

Meeting ID: 843 6352 6988
Passcode: 403748

FREE ONLINE SEMINAR: THE BENEFITS OF virtual reality FOR DEEPENING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Join us live on Tuesday 13 December at 11am. Find out how our open-source virtual reality experiences and 3D models have helped local councils to showcase development plans and engage with both residents and developers on proposed plans. Our local authority partners will chat through how the models and VR have helped to reach out to both traditional and new demographics - including those less frequently represented in public consultations. Find out how our partners have used their 3D models to secure significant grant funding.

Keith Keeley, Head of Regeneration Strategy at Wirral Council will share how Wirral developed their 3D model over time and use it to showcase regeneration plans for Birkenhead and beyond, enabling them to secure over £55 million in grants from the High Street and Levelling Up Funds. Keith will describe how their model is now used extensively for public engagement using Virtual Reality and is made available to developers who pay his local authority for its use - which offsets costs.

Johnny Lui, Urban Designer, Watford Council will discuss how they have utilised the open source route and the freedom this gives them to work towards eventual development of a digital twin whilst also using their 3D model for engagement with both residents and developers on current town centre developments.

Bridget Wilkins from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will also talk about widening engagement with help from Proptech.

For a preview of our VR experience in action, please view this clip from BBC South Today featuring Surrey County Council’s 3D model showcasing plans for Farnham high street.
https://vimeo.com/user132343583/du-farnham

You can view our video about the VR experience events we created for Wirral Council as part of their consultation events (featuring virtual pedalos and a virtual bus ride around the proposed new sea front) here:

https://vimeo.com/763844926/18fbfd6e42

To register your interest and receive your free link to join the Zoom session, please email bernard@digitalurban.place

DIGITAL URBAN.place is NOW A PRE-APPROVED SUPPLIER ON G-CLOUD

We are proud to announce that Digital Urban.Place is now a pre-approved supplier for IT services to local authorities and the public sector on G-Cloud.

We have two services available on the framework that can help support local authorities with master planning and the participation and consultation stages of development projects:

1. The provision of immersive VR experiences

2. The creation of 3D digital models (digital twins).

We have been working on a number of PropTech funded projects to create virtual reality experiences during 2022 and you can find out more about the these here.

We have received excellent feedback about how 3D models and our VR experiences can help engage a wide range of people with the consultation process in a fun way, including reaching those traditionally less engaged with public consultations.

You can find more information about our services on the G-Cloud platform or please contact us.

THE FUTURE OF BOLSOVER IS UP UP AND AWAY!

Our team is working in partnership with Bolsover District Council and The Future Fox in November month to help local people visualise what growth for the town could look like.

We have developed a unique virtual reality experience that will give participants wearing a VR headset a unique bird’s eye view of what the future of Shirebrook could look like from a hot air balloon.

Participants will have the opportunity to try the FREE VR experience on Friday 11 November.

Read the full press release here.

STEP INTO THE FUTURE OF NEW BRIGHTON AND SEACOMBE

We're working with our partners Wirral Council in October to help local people step into the future of New Brighton and Seacombe.

Our two new VR experiences showcase how young people have reimagined how local areas might look in the future. Wearing a virtual reality headset, visitors to events on 14 and 15 October will be able to take a virtual reality tour along New Brighton promenade on an open top bus led by a live tour guide. They will also see what the future Seacombe might look like as they travel along the waterfront in a virtual reality pedalo.

The VR experiences follow a series of sessions held with local schools earlier in the Summer to get younger people’s ideas on the future of New Brighton and Seacombe. We have then built these ideas into a 3D model to form part of the VR experience events.

The aim is to stimulate ideas and suggestions about reimagining New Brighton and Seacombe and making the most of their potential. It is part of a wider consultation on the future of New Brighton and Seacombe and what those who live, work, and visit them want to see there in the coming years.

The free VR events are part of Wirral Council's aim to help set out a clear and shared vision to revitalise these areas and will be used to help develop future masterplans.

Our VR experience will work alongside more traditional forms of consultation and aims to reach out and involve as many people as possible, including younger people and others who are frequently less represented in other forms of engagement.

Find out more at haveyoursay.wirral.gov.uk

This project is fully funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

HOW CAN VR HELP ENGAGE NEW AUDIENCES?

“Playful and joyful experiences” that increase “appeal and makes people want to have conversations with each other, as well as responding to the engagement.”

We are thrilled with the feedback from our work with the Design Council and Network Rail as part of ExploreStation – an innovative engagement programme that sought to involve the widest possible audience with new station design ideas.

Our team of digital experts crated two fun experiences to help people explore and move through the station designs and to feel what they would be like at different times of day and in different weather conditions.

Over 11 days in 5 different locations, 630 visitors spent over 105 hours participating in the experiences, completing 308 feedback forms and conversation.

The report highlights that our work played a vital role, alongside other engagement specialists and more traditional forms of engagement. It helped reach out to a younger and more diverse demographic and helped involve people with limited knowledge of the design concepts and technical knowledge to engage with the design and help play their part in shaping better travel experiences.

 Using this fun new technology can also help organisations to lead the way and meet their goals to engage the widest possible audience

 “The dedication to designing and hosting an experience that feels different to traditional ways of engaging sends a message about the organisation’s dedication to sharing with, and hearing from, as wide a range of people as possible.”

We are currently working on a wealth of other unique virtual reality experiences that are helping councils across the UK engage with a broader demographic and maximise the other benefits that virtual engagement brings.

 Read the full report here

 DIGITAL URBAN RUNS VR EXPERIENCE AT LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL

We are thrilled to be part of the London Design Festival #LDF22 as it returns for its 20th year.

We will be running a unique VR experience - one of over 300 special events, installations and exhibitions.

On Wednesday 21 September you will have the chance to join us in London to explore Great Britain's stations of the future.
Put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and experience the bold new world of rail travel. Learn about the innovations to station design and experience how they could become new places for you and your community, as well as support environmental resilience.

We have created two experiences for participants to choose from - take a train journey and watch the station build in front of you when you arrive at your destination or grab your luggage and walk into the station, along the platform and across the bridge as you step into the future.

The experience is part of our important engagement work with the Design Council and Network Rail as part of Explore Station.

Find out more about the event here.

Gamer technology to bring future Newquay to life

Digital Urban is working with Cornwall Council in September to use our cutting-edge technology to give Newquay residents the chance to view development ideas for the town centre while taking a virtual reality bike ride.

Digital Urban will bring our VR technology to events being organised by the Newquay Futures project which includes Cornwall Council, Newquay Business Improvement District (BID), Newquay Town Council and the Newquay Town Team local partnership. 

The project is helping shape the future of the town including producing an investment plan for the town centre. 

The immersive experience will allow participants to use the latest in virtual reality headset technology to cycle around the town centre and give their feedback on the ideas being presented. 

Cyclists can explore what the town could potentially look like in the future, complete with sounds, people and 360-degree views of buildings and options for pedestrian and cycle routes. 

Simon Mabey, Founder of Digital Urban, said: “We aim for people to have fun and try using the latest VR technology for free whilst also making a real difference to the future of the place where they live, work and play. The experience is a great way for people of all ages to really visualise and experience potential ways that Newquay could be enhanced in future. We look forward to welcoming you to the experience.”

Read the full release by Cornwall County Council here:

Jet pack into the future of Farnham

We are thrilled to be working with Surrey County Council to help people to explore the future potential of the town centre by jet pack this Summer.

Virtual reality events in August will enable people to try VR for free and discover what futuristic travel in Farnham could look like, but it also has a serious mission. The aim is to encourage more people of all ages to have the chance to input into and shape the future of the place where they live, work and play.

This is the first time Surrey County Council will be using virtual reality as an innovative way to engage with local people. The council has worked in collaboration with Digital Urban.Place ourselves and the project has been funded by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Read the full press release by Farnham Town Council here.