The Urban (Un) Seen. Artificial Intelligence as Future Space

The Urban (Un) Seen. Artificial Intelligence as Future Space – 看见（未见）的城市. 人工智能成为未来空间

ZERZA, Bettina Zerza + Tae Hong Park

Technological evolution has defined the modern city; inevitably, digital technology will continue to transform public and private space. The built environment can react in real-time to various data, enabling us to design responsive buildings rather than merely install static technical systems. According to the United Nations, 55% of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, a proportion that will likely rise to 70% by 2050; nearly 90% of such growth will occur in Asia and Africa.

The Urban (Un) Seen is addressing sustainable urbanization by measuring, visualizing and sonifying data with a focus on global urban noise pollution. Our audiovisual installation is driven by a noise sensor network that is data-driven, community-driven and art-driven; the goal is to maximize community participation, awareness and sensor network scaling to enable the creation of a real-time soundmap of global cities. At the core of the Urban (Un) Seen project are several noise sensors around the exhibition and throughout Shenzhen; residents will be invited to experience the city through the sonic spatial data they provide.

The Urban (Un) Seen gives visitors the opportunity to interact with each other in real space and digital space. Modules with integrated loudspeakers will invite visitors to sit, take a rest or observe the sonic visual elements, and invisible information will be projected directly onto the surface of the physical installation. The project enriches the perception of space by bringing in urban environmental sound that cannot be seen, touched or smelled, even though omnipresent. The installation’s visual, sonic and physical elements will provide a multisensory experience that can be felt, touched and heard beyond space and time since the sonifications and visualizations will be generated by real-time data and data archived during the exhibition.

Residents and visitors can also engage with smartphones and tablets inside and outside of the exhibition by measuring noise through an AI-driven sensor network. We revisit the built environment through the lens of urban acoustic patterns and their potential to create healthy urban soundscapes by using acoustically informed urban design. In an effort to contribute to urban noise reduction studies, residents will be able to continue measuring their urban soundscapes after the exhibition ends.

技术进步定义了现代城市，数字技术将不可避免地继续改变公共和私人空间。建成环境可以实时响应各种数据，使我们能够设计响应式建筑，而不仅仅是安装静态技术系统。根据联合国的数据，全世界55％的人口居住在城市地区，预计到2050年这一比例将增加到70％；其中近90％的增长发生在亚洲和非洲。

“看见（未见）的城市”通过测量、可视化和声音处理来解决城市可持续发展的问题，重点关注全球城市的噪声污染。我们的视听装置由一个基于数据、社区和艺术的噪声传感网络带动，可以最大程度地提高社区参与度、社区意识和传感规模，从而创建全球城市的实时声图。 该项目的核心是分布在展区周围和遍布深圳的多个噪音传感器，所收集的声音、空间数据将为市民带来新的城市体验。

通过这件作品，参观者可以在真实空间和数字空间中互动。带有集成扬声器的模块将会触发参观者坐下、休息或观察声音视觉元素，并将隐形信息直接投射到物理装置的表面上。项目通过引入无所不在却看不见、摸不着和闻不到的城市环境声音，来丰富人们对空间的感知。该装置的视觉、声音和物理元素，将提供一种超越时空的，集感觉、触觉和听觉于一体的多感官体验，声音处理和可视化都将通过展览中收集和读取的实时数据来实现。

市民和参观者还可以使用展区内外的智能手机、平板电脑，通过AI驱动的传感网络进行噪音测量。我们通过城市声学模式及其潜力重新审视建成环境，创造健康的城市声景。为了促进城市降噪的研究，在展览结束后，市民仍可以继续对城市声景进行测量。

Credits:

Bettina Zerza, Tae Hong Park