Participatory Processes As A Basis For The Content And Development Of The Mobile Application Of Augmented Reality: Amón_RA, Costa Rica

Abstract

This article deals with the participation of key actors linked to the research project Amón_RA : Implementation of augmented reality as a tool for the enhancement and promotion of the historic urban landscape of the Amón neighborhood in San José, Costa Rica. The product of the project will be a mobile application, with which the visitor of neighborhood Amón can obtain, in real time, information about the different layers of the historical urban landscape that surrounds him, allowing him to generate a criterion of the natural, historical, cultural and social value of this urban sector. The funding entity of the project was the Vice-Rectory of Research and Extension of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC).

The article answers the question, how participatory processes can be a means to both validate and discover information about a neighborhood and the stratification of its different urban components over time, with the purpose of translating the data into content for a mobile application of augmented reality. The type of research is qualitative, with a constructivist approach where people related to Barrio Amón participated as a primary source of information, which allowed the research team to discover qualitatively significant data to value the historic urban landscape.

Participatory processes provided the means for a greater understanding of the meanings and experiences of the people who live or stay in the neighborhood, as well as to validate the information found in formal sources. The main conclusion is that for the value of the qualitative information provided by social agents, such as experiences, anecdotes and secrets as part of the content in the mobile application, this takes a closer look for users. The participative processes around the application were a means to gather and document non-formal information that belongs to the intimacy of the neighboring families, who are in a historical moment where they seek to perpetuate the memory and identity of Barrio Amón.