City as Lab Facilities, assets and resources

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City as Lab offers facilities, small-scale project funding, digital assets and connection to collaborative opportunities and resources.

Facilities

From January 2024, City as Lab will provide pilot space on Castle Meadow Campus to researchers across faculties for project and engagement activities, interaction with partners, and exhibition and showcasing. The space will prioritise use for place-led research and knowledge exchange that is grounded in the Nottingham city region and that explores digital and data interventions.

The space has a ‘Collaboration’ area that can accommodate between 30-50 people (with chairs/tables or chairs only) and a ‘Curiosity’ area for displays, networking and informal engagement. The space will be equipped with two high-spec GPU computers, mobile display screens, ideation zones, project desk space and flexible exhibition and demo areas.

From Feb/March 2024, City as Lab will provide home to a large-scale augmented city map of Nottingham (PARM), a unique situated display enabling researchers to import, view and project city data onto a dynamic relief model. This grows out of a PropTech Innovation Fund collaboration with Nottingham City Council.

Request to use City as Lab space

Miniature model of the University of Nottingham's Castle Meadow Campus on a projected augmented relief model

Display of photographs of the meadows at the University of Nottingham's City as Lab

Projected Augmented Relief Model at the University of Nottingham's City as Lab

teh University of Nottingham's City as Lab Virtual reality headset

The University of Nottingham's City as Lab space laid out as theatre style

The University of Nottingham's Projected augmented relief model in situ at City as Lab on the Castle Meadow Campus

Digital Nottingham Assets (DNA)

City as Lab has helped develop digital/data assets that enable place-based research and knowledge exchange across disciplinary boundaries. We will be running workshops in 2023-24 to see, play and prototype these and other tools.

Woman using the Projection Augmented Relief Model to assess flood risk in 3D

Projection Augmented Relief Model (PARM)

A three-dimensional model of the city that allows exploration of various scenarios through map-based data projection, with boundless research possibilities – from heritage tourism to urban planning.

Screenshot of the University of Nottingham research data search web page

City Data Connector

A feasibility study examining how disparate large datasets can be cross-referenced and analysed to derive findings for the greater good of the city.

High-resolution 3D photographic mesh

A cutting-edge virtual rendering of Nottingham’s architecture, infrastructure and open spaces that combines aerial photos with data captured via ‘Laser Imaging, Detection, and Ranging’ (LIDAR), providing an interactive 3D city model with multiple research applications.

Resources

City as Lab is one of several initiatives supporting challenge-led research in Nottingham. Explore other ways that the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University are providing collaborative opportunities below:

Universities for Nottingham Collaboratory DTP

Universities for Nottingham

For searchable open data resources for place-based research, see:

Open Data Nottingham

Open Data Institute

UK government areas of interest database

City as Lab Projects

City as Lab Home