https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/46920 2026-04-04T22:03:14Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/99361 Title: Enhancing places through technology Authors: Zammit, Antoine; Kenna, Therese Abstract: Fostering knowledge about the relationship between Information and Communication Technologies and Public Spaces supported by strategies to improve their use. CyberParks Project, funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology Programme | COST TU 1306 - www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/tud/TU1306), is a collaborative research platformfor knowledge and experiences exchange on the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to promote participatory urban design processes and the production of inclusive public open spaces. CyberParks is devoted to explore the contribution of ICTs to transform our cities into more social environments, rather than just more high-tech. In April 2016 CyberParks organised the mid-term research event ICiTy - Enhancing places through technology, in Valletta, Malta, focused on the opportunities and challenges to public spaces brought about by the advancements of ICTs. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to synthesise the current ‘state of the art’, which is now reflected in this collection. It presents interdisciplinary perspectives, analysis of newmethodologies, new theoretical or conceptualmodels for the digital era, as well as preliminary studies of peoples’ use of, and engagement with, technology in public spaces. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/99360 Title: Introduction [Enhancing places through technology] Authors: Zammit, Antoine; Kenna, Therese Abstract: The rapid diffusion and uptake of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) presents a new and unique challenge for cities as social life and urban space becomes increasingly (yet unevenly) mediated by new technologies and digital devices. As ICTs continue to infiltrate urban and social realms, there is a pressing need to understand the complexity of this rapidly expanding social and spatial phenomenon. The papers in this collection contribute to an emerging body of work that seeks to understand the relationships between people, the physical urban space and opportunities for place-making, and technology. These three dimensions form the vertices of an important triangle, having far-reaching implications, be it in the development of new technologies, in the understanding of human behaviour and in the definition, and possibly rethinking, of urban spaces. Possibly more importantly, there are significant overlaps, and interfaces, between these three pillars that are investigated by some of these papers. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/47048 Title: The principle of geotagging : cross-linking archival sources with people and the city through digital urban places Authors: Breser, Christoph; Zedlacher, Stefan; Winkler, Ramona Abstract: This article discusses technical solutions for representing archival sources in urban areas. We strive to realise the interconnectedness of sources, its beholders and the concerning entity through the location where the information was recorded the first time. This will be exemplified by a recent project at the University of Graz. Thereto, we need to identify problems in the analogue world mainly dealing with the classification of archiving, semiotic systems, descriptions and assignments. We use existing mobile technologies and software applications from different application fields and test their suitability for our concern. Comparing and transferring analogue methods to the digital world is a real challenge we like to accept when it comes to solving identified problems that arise in the context of modes of practice in archives and web representations. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/47033 Title: Does the human brain really like ICT tools and being outdoors? a brief overview of the cognitive neuroscience perspective of the CyberParks concept Authors: Klichowski, Michal; Patrício, Catarina Abstract: The paper presents an overview of the latest studies on cognitive neuroscience that can help evaluate concepts that promote technologically-enhanced outdoor activities, such as CyberParks. The following questions are asked in the paper: does the human brain really like ICT tools? Does the human brain really like being outdoors? And finally: does the human brain really like technologically-enhanced outdoor activities? The results of the studies presented show that the human brain does not like ICT tools yet, it likes being outdoors very much. At the same time, it was shown that outdoors activities may be encouraged by ICT tools, yet outdoors activities themselves should be free from ICT tools. Using ICT tools and physical activity at the same time is a dual task, a type of activity that leads to cognitive and physical processes being destabilised, which leads to weakened effects of both cognitive and physical tasks. From the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, CyberParks are not a solution that the human brain really likes. Another issue is also discussed, namely: do technologically-enhanced outdoor activities—such as in CyberParks—really increase the quality of life? 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z