Speculative Design for Urban Digital Twins: Anti-experience in Culture-Driven Phygital Interactions

Abstract

Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) - data-driven virtual replicas of urban environments - are increasingly utilized for urban planning and management, potentially complemented with Extended Reality (XR). Simultaneously, recent advances in immersive technologies have significantly transformed cultural heritage, enhancing digitization and presentation techniques and fostering a conversation around digital cultural heritage (DCH). Despite their potential, current UDT literature has attracted criticism for dominant techno-solutionist approaches that may overlook complex sociocultural dynamics. We suggest that UDT and DCH topics can work together to bridge this gap. Addressing this sociotechnical perspective, this workshop brings together designers and researchers specializing in interaction design, digital cultural heritage, UDTs, XR applications, and phygital interactions. Employing a participatory speculative methodology alongside an "anti-experience"design perspective, the workshop encourages participants to envision and critically examine both ideal and problematic scenarios from diverse stakeholder viewpoints. The workshop aims to foster comprehensive discussions that illuminate the sociotechnical implications of phygital interactions within future urban contexts. Structured around collaborative activities, presentations, and facilitated dialogue, the workshop offers a space for imagining alternative futures for urban phygital experiences.