【Promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) series】

The convener of XR micro-learning program, and also as the chief of Architecture Department of NUK, Associate Professor Yi-Chao Chen guides students of micro-learning program to take part in VDWC every year. Surrounded by more than 50 groups of strong opponents from all over the world this year, only 9 groups were qualified for the shortlist, and the XR micro-learning students subsidized by The Sprout Project of NUK accounted for 3 groups. NUK won a group of runners-up in the final on November 17.

VDWC was hosted by “Forum 8”, a great software company of Building Information Modeling. VDWC invited students from departments of architecture, civil engineering, and urban planning from various countries. After it chooses the problems that different cities encounter, participants must use their software building information modeling, virtual reality and other technologies to conduct analysis and simulation of facility functions, sustainable design and disaster prevention planning. This perfectly fits the spirit of SDGs 11–promoting inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements.

“A city where humans and smart mobility coexist–Western Sydney Airport Terminal Neighborhood” is the theme of 2022 VDWC. The 24-hour Western Sydney Airport is expected to become Australia's largest passenger airport in the future. The country's government has launched the country's largest urban development project–Airtropolis in the surrounding open area. 

A large number of airport passengers, related employees, and hotel residents around the airport move within the region, forming an intricate and highly mobile city. The futuristic city designed with intelligent transportation, its advanced nature, uniqueness, and lifestyle changes brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic are the focus of this evaluation.

“LAPUTA” was designed by Kuan-Yu Chu, Ching-Ya Tseng, Ting-Wen Yang, Tzu-Yi Yang and Wei-Hua Cheng from Architecture Department of NUK. The work designed a new type of transportation–Chubby in response to the traffic problems at Western Sydney Airport. 

Chubby is an indoor small-scale low-speed automatic driving system, and it can be combined into a large outdoor transport vehicle as the number of passengers increases. LAPUTA integrates passenger identification, real-time traffic dynamics and Metaverse technology to create a sustainable smart, safe, and smooth mobile city where humans and smart mobility coexist.

“Accel World” was designed by Yu-Min Yang, Yu-Hsiang Huang, Wen-Te Huang and Cheng-Yu Lin from Architecture Department of NUK. Aside from the Transit Station to integrate all routes to the airport, they also developed a drone to scan the health condition of passengers and to give them road guidance and city information. With tubular corridors, pedestrians and vehicles can shuttle through the airport to quickly disperse crowds. The exterior of the building adopts cyberpunk design, which is quite eye-catching.

Yu-Chia Su, Yi-Hsuan Li, Shih-Hung Li, Wei-Kai Huang and Min-En Tsai from Architecture Department of NUK thought on the theme of ocean currents, creating a 24-hour circulation ocean current system on the road, with the ocean of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia as the design concept, and build Western Sydney Airport into a vortex-shaped orbit, aerial track and suspension unit vehicle. This makes it easier for passengers to reach small site, and it also preserves the surrounding forest ecology. When a disaster strikes, it will be transformed into an ecological corridor for the escape of creatures, which is original and in line with the concept of ecological sustainability.

The “XR Micro-learning Program” of XR SCHOOL and “Somatosensory Technology and Digital Innovation Program” of Architecture Department are directed by Associate Professor Yi-Chao Chen. Courses include 3D animation production, 3D modeling Unreal game design, Unity game design, XR script design and video implementation and other XR professional courses. 

Through basic theory and practice, students are encouraged to participate in project development and various competitions to broaden their international horizons. The XR micro-learning program is eligible for completion after completing 10 credits. Related courses and details:

● Introduction and Setting of XR Micro-learning Program:https://ifschool.nuk.edu.tw/downloadfile.php?fid=52

● Introduction and Setting of Somatosensory Technology and Digital Innovation Program:https://ifschool.nuk.edu.tw/downloadfile.php?fid=51
 

#SDG4 #SDG11