Public Space as Mediator

Current trends in urban design aim to reduce the number of vehicles in city centers. These trends are part of a growing focus on pedestrian and human-centered cities. At the same time, there is a growing use of autonomous vehicles and agents in our urban space. Following these trends we can assume that in the near future most vehicles in our urban space will be autonomous. This raises questions of interaction and agency of pedestrians and robots. The current project studies the use of public space as a mediator for trifold interaction between autonomous agents and pedestrians. This use of public space as a communicator and mediator will allow for a more trusting interaction between persons and autonomous agents. It will also afford public space with performative and communicative abilities.