Urban Lens: Edinburgh
An interactive system transforming urban streetlamps into digital narrators, connecting historic city narratives with live festival energy.
Focus Areas
Urban Spatial Curation / Interaction / Digital Wayfinding
Project Type
Independent Design Study
Timeline
2024
Fig 1.0 — Conceptual visualization of the activated streetlamp in Royal Mile.
"Let the city tell its own story."
In most urban explorations, visitors act as "hunters"—constantly searching for history and tracking down venues. Urban Lens flips this dynamic. We imagine Edinburgh not as a map to be solved, but as a living narrator. Through the gentle medium of light, the city reaches out to its visitors, whispering its stories and creating a unique, effortless memory for every individual.
A City of Two Souls
Edinburgh in August is a city of two souls. On one side, it is ancient, stolid, and stone-built; on the other, it is a sudden explosion of kinetic energy from the world’s largest arts festival.
As millions of visitors flood the streets, the city’s static infrastructure—standard maps and permanent signs—cannot keep pace with the ephemeral and shifting nature of the festival. Traditional navigation can find a theater, but it cannot capture the "vibe" of a pop-up show in a hidden alley. Visitors are forced to juggle multiple apps, paper flyers, and maps, fragmenting their experience.
Fig 1.1 — Comparative analysis of urban crowd density: Regular vs. Festival season.
The Triad of Needs
Fig 2.1 — User research: Empathy mapping and identification of core pain points.
The Visitor's Desire
Desires immersion and a "frictionless" discovery of hidden gems without being glued to a screen.
The Festival's Challenge
Needs to guide massive crowds toward smaller, less-visible venues to support emerging artists.
The City's Heritage
Demands a solution that respects historic preservation while embracing 21st-century technology.
Fig 2.2 — Behavioral insight: Spontaneous interaction with urban infrastructure through photography.
A holistic journey shouldn’t be defined by "screen-hopping," but by empowering silent urban objects with responsive intelligence.
By synthesizing the needs of the city, the festival, and its infrastructure, I observed a profound habit: visitors instinctively seek physical anchors—leaning on or gathering around urban infrastructure to orient themselves in the chaos.
This intelligence acts as a luminous thread, connecting the historic body of the city to the fleeting energy of the festival, weaving together a seamless and enduring life memory.
Streetlamps as Beacons
Why streetlamps? Because they are the most pervasive urban infrastructure. They represent guidance by nature. We removed the learning curve—everyone knows a light is meant to be followed.
Fig 3.1 — System Architecture: Integrating physical streetlamps with the interactive app.
Historic Landmarks
Stability & Time
Fig 3.2a — Geometry: Triangle
Performance Venues
Movement & Energy
Fig 3.2b — Geometry: Circle
Artist Profiles
Structure & Story
Fig 3.2c — Geometry: Square
AI-Generated Palettes
Each light’s color is not random; it’s synthesized via AI from the event’s posters, the building’s architectural nature, or the artist's unique style.
Fluid Guidance
The app replaces the rigid "arrow" with Fluid Dynamic Icons that reflect the user's intent:
- 💧
Water Droplets
For those donating to the festival.
- ⚪
Silver Liquid Metal
For sustainability contributors.
- 🧶
Yarn Balls
For personal souvenir seekers.
"The icon acts like a weightless compass, shifting and flowing toward the next destination. As the user approaches, the corresponding streetlamp awakens, illuminating automatically to acknowledge their presence and bridge the gap between digital intent and physical space."
Fig 4.1 — App Interface: Navigational flows and digital-physical handshake.
Tangible Progress
Exploration shouldn't just be a digital record. As users navigate, their "Fluid Icon" grows—collecting traces of the city like a rolling snowball. Upon departure, this progress becomes a currency to redeem physical souvenirs, turning a transient journey into a tangible life milestone.
Fig 5.1 — Exploration Progress: Visualizing journey data and milestone collection.
"Cloaked in Light"
This project is a tribute to my time as a student in Edinburgh. I still remember the feeling of standing under those lights, feeling the city's history and energy merge. Designing Urban Lens was about recreating that "Magic Moment"—where a visitor is being embraced by the city, cloaked in a light that remains etched in memory forever.
Final — The immersive experience of being cloaked in urban light.