VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE EVENTS

 We use 3D digital models and gaming technology to create unique immersive VR experiences and tailored public engagement events.

These experiences can use existing 3D urban models (digital twins) created for towns and places or can be a bespoke creation based on a real building or landscape or a virtual creation of what a place could look like in the future.

These experiences enable participants to explore concepts and ideas wearing a virtual reality headset and can really bring potential developments alive for people, helping them to see what spaces could look, feel and sound like. We know that 2D maps traditionally used in public consultations don’t always work well for everyone. VR experiences can help to show people a more real sense of developments that they can navigate round - for example showing the heights of the buildings, what streets look like without cars or with a different mix of buildings.

These VR experiences can also play an important role in the public consultation and engagement process and it is possible to collect data from participants both during and after the experiences. We can incorporate elements into the experiences to collect data, such as asking people to ‘fly through’ a hoop to answer yes or no to questions and to shape what they see in the game in response to their feedback. The raw data is then available for analysis after the events. The VR experiences can also work alongside more traditional forms of engagement, including asking participants to complete post-it notes or questionnaires based on the experience.

Digital Urban.Place provides professional staffing, working alongside project partners, to develop the individual experiences and to incorporate questions to help facilitate public engagement and participation in line with your goals and aspirations for your project as well as running the events.

Below are some examples of the types of experiences we have developed with partners recently:

Designing stations of the future

We worked in partnership with Network Rail and the Design Council to develop a virtual reality experience as part of ExploreStation - public consultation around what stations of the future could look like.

The experience enabled people to put on a VR headset and explore around design ideas for future stations including what it would feel like to navigate around the station with luggage and to pull up in a train alongside the platform. They were able to hear train announcements and experience the new design right down to how it would feel at different times of day and in different weather, the materials and components being proposed and the detail of how the design concept will respond to local communities and the character of different places.

The revaluation report commissioned for Explore Station highlighted that the VR experience really 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.

VISUALISING THE FUTURE OF FARNHAM HIGH STREET

We have worked with a number of local authorities recently on Proptech funded projects to use virtual reality to bring ideas for future development alive.

Each experience we have created is bespoke for each local authority and their individual aspirations. The experiences have included flying through a high street wearing a jet pack, taking a virtual bike ride through development ideas, taking a ride on an open-top bus and pedalo and a hot air balloon flight.

For Farnham, participants were able to fly through Farnham High Street and visualise concepts for how the area could be developed in future. The game was developed to enable consultation as part of the experience, with people being able to fly through ‘hoops’ to indicate their views on various aspects. Additional consultation was also undertaken alongside the experience.

We received excellent feedback on the events, both from participants and project partners. You can read more about what our partners say about us here.

Benefits of working with us on VR EXPERIENCE EVENTS

• We can develop bespoke 3D/4D/VR installations to suit your individual aspirations and plans.

• Our experiences can be incorporated into the urban planning process and help to engage a wider demographic at engagement events in a fun and engaging way..

• We can capture both qualitative and quantitative data and feedback within the experiences to feed into your wider consultation process.

• We are experienced in developing events that enable children and young people to engage with consultations - including developing ideas that can be tested by a broader demographic during the events. Young people are traditionally often excluded from the planning process.

We are now a preferred supplier for IT services to local authorities and the public sector on G-Cloud for our 3D models and VR experiences.

To find out more about our digital services, please take a look at our recent news pages and contact us.