Building Digital Cities as a Social Information Infrastructure

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In this research we defined digital cities as a social information infrastructure that gathers and provides urban information through the Internet. We proposed the three layer architecture for digital cities, which consists of the information layer, the interface layer, and the interaction layer. We established Digital City Kyoto Experiment Forum, which includes several research institutes, local authorities, companies, and volunteers. The forum developed and maintained Digital City Kyoto Prototype. We have achieved the following research results through this activity.1. Information Sharing in Digital CitiesWe developed a system called GeoLink that integrates the Web and the geographical information system. In GeoLink the XY coordinates of the web pages are determined based on the postal addresses written in the pages, and more than 5000 web pages in Kyoto can be searched. We have also developed GeoLinkSQL, which is an SQL-like language that enables us to write a query that specifies geographical and hyperlink relations of web pages.2. Human Interface for Digital CitiesWe developed map-based user interface for GeoLink. This interface enables neighborhood search, category search, and keyword search. The search results, which are hyperlinks to the searched web pages, are superimposed as icons on a map image. We also developed 3D implementation of Shijo Shopping Street (Kyoto's most popular shopping street). We used 3DML and photos taken by digital cameras. This 3D Kyoto shares the information with GeoLink, and we can find neighbor web pages while walking through the 3D City.3. Social Interaction in Digital CitiesWe developed a digital bus tour for visitors to the digital city by combining a chat system and 3DML. The tour guide agent will lead chatting visitors through 3D space. This is a prototype of agents that support social interaction among users of digital cities.