Peace Garden - Interactive Community Mural
An urban placemaking project that celebrates the rich diversity of multicultural Auburn through immersive technology.
Research
Site observations were conducted to understand the patterns in the central spaces in Auburn, NSW such as the existing meaning, activity and form.
In gaining an understanding of the diverse migrant population of Auburn I conducted a focus group with local residents, and expert interviews. The interviewees migrated themselves to Auburn and also have a specialist background in multiculturalism, including Khaled Sabsabi, international multimedia artist and Ernest Kulauzović, Pastor for Auburn Gallipoli Mosque.
Based on Chueng, Lin & Hu (2015) participatory design framework ‘Kindness as a collective wish’, small co-design workshops were held to construct stories and images on kindness framed through personal migration experiences. Local community members were recruited based on ABS data of largest nationalities in Auburn (Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Nepalese).
Development
A low fidelity prototype was created in Processing. In the projection display, the user's position is mirrored by the placement of an illustrated flower through face detection. The user is encouraged to explore the underlayers which reveals the community's co-creations. Due to COVID-19 limitations, testing was conducted through user online simulations to understand the interaction between both single and multiple users.
Further user testing was summarised into a cognitive map of associations and quantitative evaluation of satisfaction. Users would explore the underlayers, and see images connected through a theme and go back to other areas, wanting to discover something deeper. Areas with symbolism or abstraction were more satisfying to explore, and made them linger longer. I held a stakeholder interview with the Cumberland Council Gallery Director, Michael Brown to discuss how this placemaking concept would fit in the wider council strategy.
