According to experts, at least once in our lives we will experience a deja vu . roughly mode and, although the term has different variants, what is deja vu you can define the concept when something happens and suddenly, throughout few seconds, you have this strange feeling that You already lived that moment, that about an event or specific experience, you have already witnessed it.
The meaning of déjà vu is known in the world of scientists as paramnesia (Belief delusional that a place or setting has been duplicated), which It comes from the French déjà vu «already seen before».
Coined by the French psychic Émile Boirac in his book "The future of psychic sciences" . According to statistics, it is also more common in people with higher education and "socioeconomic" class, the who watch more movies or travel often. If he
Focusing on the world of architecture deja vu and urban space. Cleary, a psychologist at Colorado State University, is using today's technology to try to recreate the déjà vu experience You have created a virtual town in 3D called “Deja Ville” , based on the popular game from the Sims 2. You are using it to explore the theory Gestalt , before the disposition of the objects within a scene.
Given the importance of psychology Gestalt we make a small paragraph to explain some interesting concepts:
What are the laws of Gestalt ( Laws on Design and Perception) . Tries to understand the perceptual process as regards the elements visual, based on the idea that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts”. To understand it better, we leave the following video of the principles and concept of Gestalt about objects and space:
The video is by Manuel Flores. Some Gestalt examples in the urban space we could understand it in the following advertising campaign for a well-known brand of drinks:
On the right, is the Law of Similarity : We perceive elements that are the same grouped together identifying a shape And the left, an example of the l law of continuity : we tend to group elements that follow a pattern or continuity, so we perceive the continuous elements even if they are interrupted.
To understand more we can consult Gestalt psychology (here) or applied with practical examples of the laws of Gestalt.
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Continuing the work of Cleary and his virtual town in 3D… “For each scene original created, we create another, different scene that projects on the original scene in its spatial configuration – the configuration of the elements of the grid» .
For example, if the original scene was a backyard with a tree with a pot in the center, surrounded by flowers and flower pots hanging on the patio walls, the similar scene corresponding could be a museum with a statue in the middle (Statue = tree), surrounded by rugs and candle holders in the same configuration as the flowers and pots. If we are creating a letting experience vu, we could also help predict what happens next!. An example dejavu :
If a user. First he has been in the "Patio with a tree" and then we moved it to the "Museum with a statue" and We ask where the emergency exit is, because of a scene that we have provoked, an induced memory, will tell us – probably – which is on the left hand.
This makes it possible, for example, that in case of fires in buildings can be evacuated more quickly because the Users already know where the exit is unconsciously. It is evident that they do not have to be all the buildings equal, but it is possible that the distributions interiors are similar in certain buildings, with similar uses.
Conceptual photographer James Popsys has a innate restlessness in remembering and recalling experiences and objects adapting them to urban spaces in their ingenious photographs … “Remembering deja vus in cities» and transforming the everyday image in a surreal memory of compelling visual impact.
Remembering the boring urbanism article about the façade design where urban planner Jan Gehl taught us who has been able to identify a handful of attributes of design – within the urban space – that can either attract or deter pedestrians by creating what he calls…
So, we're significantly increasing the power to create certain sensations to the users according to the convenience of the urban planner or designer.
Following the phrase «If we are creating an experience of deja vu, we can also help predict what happens next!»… We can move to the Eixample from Barcelona with the famous Pla Cerdá where there is a urban particularity, no longer because of the shape of the framework and the urban profile that is based on "square blocks" and ... etc, but rather by the direction of traffic on the streets.
The image belongs to the article maps interactive in 3D. Highly recommend!
Each street is one way, and the next street is in the opposite direction to the previous one. That is, although we are located in different points of the Eixample and we can feel that we have already been in that place, although the space and urban fabric will be very similar, we can recognize that if the The next street goes in one direction, the street after that goes in other .
And what benefits does it bring?... Many, if we help predict what happens next; Less wasted time on move from one place to another in the city, prevention of accidents since we know the street addresses… etc Individually, the vials do not contribute much benefit, but in the context as a whole, it reports a benefit to the driver.
