A Blueprint for Civic Co-Creation

Seeing photos of proposed improvements to city streets is one thing; it’s an entirely different thing when you can experience it, feel it, live it in real time.

That experience is what researchers in the Future Mobility Design (FMD) Lab are working on with a pilot project called A Window into Our Future: an Augmented On-Site Experience.

The project, in conjunction with the MIT City Science Lab and 3DStreet, involved an on-site session with community members and urban experts, providing them with a real-time Augmented Reality (AR) visualization of proposed improvements to a Cincinnati street.

Through their smartphones, participants could view transformations such as added greenery, bike lanes, public spaces, transit access, and housing enhancements. This demonstration also showcased projected impacts, such as improved local economy, better quality of life, and job creation. By contributing feedback and ideas, the participants became co-creators of their future community.

That co-creation is the goal of their project, true to the mission of Digital Futures: to bridge the ivory tower of research and its real-world impact.

The team’s next steps are to take this successful AR prototype to a full experience with real community stakeholders, then adapt the model to new locations in other American cities like Boston and San Francisco, and eventually to take it global in Latin America.

Through this collaboration with MIT and 3DStreet, the Future Mobility Lab team laid the groundwork for a global movement that empowers communities to imagine, shape, and co-design their own future environments.