Future Cities

In the developing city of the future, how will individuals decide who and what to trust with their personal details? How much personal data should we give away?

Digital identities are increasingly being used by organisations to validate who we are and what we should have access to. But who owns that digital identity? Ideally, everyone is custodian of their own identity. However, as information turns digital, it also becomes more replicable, less tangible and harder to protect.

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a solution where the individual identity holder can access and use their credentials on the internet whenever and however they please – giving away only those details necessary for each transaction. SSI places the individual in control.

An SSI-driven digital wallet aims to replace the functionality typically included in a physical wallet, such as a driver’s license, myki card, loyalty cards and credit cards. Using co-design methods, we understand both the human needs for a digital identity and the technological means to support an equitable, trustworthy, useable and sustainable solution. 

Investigating a self-sovereign identity solution to safeguard personal data

In partnership with 460 Degrees, this project investigates how we can identify individuals and confirm their credentials in the digital realm by using a digital wallet. Digital identities are increasingly being used to validate who we are and what we should have access to, but it is often unclear who owns that digital identity. As information turns digital, it also becomes more replicable, less tangible and harder to protect.

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) – the basis for the digital wallet – allows the individual to access and use their credentials on the internet whenever and however they please – giving away only those details necessary for each transaction.

Using co-design methods to support an equitable, trustworthy, usable and sustainable solution, this project takes a human-centred approach to the design of an SSI-driven digital wallet that can replace the contents of a physical wallet with digital versions of a driver’s license, credit cards, public transport cards and loyalty cards. 

Creating an enhanced visitor experience and insight into innovative designs of the past through virtual reality technologies

We are designing a virtual reality-led recreation of the Italian Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition of 1937. Through virtual reality technology, it is now possible to provide an embodied experience of original designs overlaid on the existing fabric of buildings. This overlay creates an enhanced visitor experience and provides insight into the innovative designs of the past, which can be used by designers of the future.

This project tests a new methodology for fostering innovation in architectural history and design and has transformative potential for architectural historians to use an experiential method for understanding and analysing ephemeral architecture designers.

These designers will have experiential access to this ephemeral architecture as a precedent for innovation in their own design process communities and will gain knowledge about avant-garde moments in world architecture though experience.

Exploring balance between ‘movement’ and ‘place’ in designing safe and successful places

This project is a collaboration with Transport for NSW and iMOVE, as well as with the Sustainable Mobility and Connected Transportation research program within the Innovative Planet Research Institute.

We are using a virtual reality (VR) environment that simulates a city street to investigate a series of different street configurations, traffic volumes and speeds, and to gauge perceptions of which streetscape design elements help people feel more comfortable and safe; therefore, representing a ‘successful place’. The user experience of both the VR and the different street configurations will be measured, including their immersion in the VR environment.

Streets make up over 80 per cent of public open space and are critical to the active and healthy life of a city. The NSW Road Safety Plan 2021 is a supporting plan of the Future Transport 2056 strategy, which aims to allocate road space in a way that improves the liveability of places. As our population grows, increased pressure will be placed on already contested space within our streets.

The research findings will provide valuable knowledge about the impact and perception of safety treatments, vehicle speed and noise, traffic intensity and volume, as well as street design, layout and dimensions on movement and place.

VR for training disability support workers

In collaboration with Swinburne's Pathways and Vocational Education (PAVE) and Scope, and with funding by the Victorian Government, this project aims to complement and extend the findings of the Jasper: A Virtual Reality Simulation Program for Vocational and Higher Education in TAFE project.

The aim is to evaluate the use of interactive virtual reality (VR) for training scenarios for disability support works, as well as the use of different types and levels of VR platforms and headsets for delivering this training. Our research will focus on training scenarios such as positive behaviour support (PBS), which requires direct interaction with another person who may exhibit behaviours of concern.

The core value proposition of using VR lies in its ability to generate a compelling sense of having a physical presence or ‘being there’ but being able to deliver this experience remotely via a headset or 3D display. For these reasons, VR is being widely explored as a powerful and cost-effective means of training workers in areas that require physical interaction within environments or with other people.

Key projects in 2025