WIKITOPIA PROJECT
Future Cities, Built By Citizens
WIKITOPIA — RESEARCH

This page lists our current research initiatives. Presently, our efforts are centered around the development and operation of the "dédédé" platform, and the development of "Wikitopia OS", a future version of dédédé enhanced using augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. In addition, we pursue several initiatives with longer-term outlooks with the collective goal of empowering citizens to dynamically "edit" cities in a DIY manner, such as the development of "Printable Garden", a digital fabrication technology that introduces new ways to add greenery and nature to cities. Outputs of our research will be deployed through various channels, including commercialization, publication of source code, etc.

dédédé

dédédé is an online platform that invites citizens to share various opinions about their neighborhoods, using a combination of text, photos, and sound. (The platform's name derives from eedé, akandé, and nandé, which translates to good, bad, and why in Kansai dialect.) We aim to grow the platform into an active forum that fosters users' interest in local urban issues, gently steering people toward participatory urbanism. We expect the uploaded data to provide value to city governments, urban designers, educational institutions, etc. as well. The platform is free to use, so please check it out here.

Wikitopia OS

Wikitopia OS is the future version of dédédé, which uses augmented reality to show various information about the city — citizens' opinions and ideas, development plans, speculative visions, etc. — in ways tightly coupled with the actual urban environment. Using real-time image processing, the platform is capable of visualizing the effects of large-scale urban transformations such as introductions of height restrictions, conversions of main streets into pedestrian plazas, etc. The platform also incorporates various forms of artificial intelligence that lend support to urban design and decision making.

Below are several of the technical components that comprise Wikitopia OS.

Ninja Codes

We are developing a technology that, through strategic additions of noise, converts arbitrary images into "Ninja Codes" — images that function as location tracking markers. The difficulty of providing precise location tracking is often cited as a problem in outdoor augmented reality; Ninja Codes offers a low-cost solution to this problem that also mitigates aesthetic and privacy concerns.

Civic AI

We are developing a suite of artificial intelligence tools for Wikitopia OS. At its center is a data aggregation tool that analyzes citizen input to reveal hidden trends and urban issues, with guardrails put in place to minimize political and cultural biases in its outputs. We are also exploring the use of conversational agents to create a new, intuitive form of citizen-city interface.

Wikitopia Model

Working with researchers in Australia and Italy, we are building a new mathematical model of urbanism centered around active citizen participation. The model extends the "15-minute city" paradigm, with the assumption that more expansive data about cities will become available in the future. The model can be used to quantitatively analyze and predict the effects of various urban initiatives.

TrueTalk

We are building a new text-based communication tool that facilitates consensus building and decision making among citizens. The tool implements a logic-based mechanism — which we call "reinforced discourse" — that naturally steers users toward unambiguous, rational conversations. We aim to create an easily learnable tool that can be used by everyone, regardless of technical background.

Printable Garden

Community gardening, and other efforts to bring nature into the city, are some of the most common forms of participatory urbanism. To further boost such activities, we are developing a 3D printing technology that produces "gardens" topped with various types of plants, using specialized polymer that acts as a soil substitute. Users can create freeform "gardens", whose geometries and plant layouts can be finely specified on software. Although still in research stage, we believe that the technology can eventually be extended to print complex ecosystems supporting diverse flora and fauna, e.g., rooftop sanctuaries for fireflies.

AnyLight

AnyLight is a panel-shaped lighting device that can mimic the illumination effects of various light sources, such as spotlight, chandelier, etc. In a room where AnyLight panels are installed across the ceiling, arbitrary light sources can be made to appear at any overhead position. The project initially began as an effort to design a programmable lighting system for outdoor spaces that can be controlled by the public, but as of now our focus is on creating a general-purpose future lighting technology with broad applications; in the near term, we expect the device to find use in professional settings, e.g., film studios.