Web 3D based dialogue for public participation and the VEPs Project

It is becoming increasingly important to European democratic governments to increase public participation. One of the areas that gives rise to significant public dissatisfaction and feelings of dis-empowerment is that of local planning. "Not in my backyard" or `NIMBYism' is now often quoted as the almost automatic response to local planning proposals. We argue that more effective tools are required to clearly display local planning proposals in Web based interactive 3D, free at the point of access. Initial workshops have shown that such tools are only likely to be used if those so doing can influence the outcome. Consensus needs to be obtained among a broad group to exert strong influence. Tools are therefore needed to share concerns, examine alternatives, and propose solutions through collaborative citizen based examination and discussion. This paper describes the development and mailing of prototype tools for this purpose in the virtual environmental planning system (VEPs) project. The focus of this paper is on tools to support collaborative dialogue and to draw attention to or to focus on specific issues in a 3D Web based interactive environment. The issues may be presented synchronously in the form of whiteboard conferencing, or asynchronously. Playback facilities for previous synchronous discussion may be useful as a record of points of agreement, and in this respect require subsequent additional more expansive description for full understanding by others. Similar tools are required to support asynchronous debate. It is suggested that effective, easy to use, to understand and review records of synchronous exchanges of views or tools for asynchronous discussion may need to create an illustrated narrative, and in this respect adopt the readily understood language of film