onlyoneuche/classroomvisibility

This project intends to model intervisibility between students in a teaching classroom using isovists. It aims to develop better classroom design strategies. CAD models, DepthmapX & QGIS.

The current project intends to model intervisibility between students in a teaching classroom using isovists. It aims to develop better classroom design strategies. CAD models, DepthmapX & QGIS. It is a part of the first hackathons of the program All in Opensource in which I'm enrolled.

ClassroomVisibility

This project intends to model intervisibility between students in a teaching classroom using isovists. It aims to develop better classroom design strategies. CAD models, DepthmapX & QGIS.

Inspiration

Education is a cornerstone of development, and for Africa, achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) is crucial. My project aims to empower African educators with tools to create classrooms that foster interaction and inclusivity. Traditional designs often hinder student engagement, with limited visibility creating a barrier to participation. This inspired me to leverage the concept of "isovists" - the visual field from a specific point - to transform classroom layouts for the better.

What it does

This uses readily available 2D CAD data of existing classrooms. By analyzing these layouts, we can model student intervisibility using isovists. DepthmapX software will be used to generate visibility maps, highlighting areas where students and teachers can see each other. These maps will be further analyzed to identify zones of low visibility, allowing educators and architects to optimize classroom designs for increased interaction.

How we built it

Data Acquisition: We'll collaborate with African schools to obtain existing 2D CAD floor plans of their classrooms.

** Isovist Analysis:** Software like DepthmapX will analyze the 2D data and generate visibility maps, revealing areas of limited student sightlines.

This project aims to develop a method for modeling student intervisibility in classrooms using isovists. By using readily available 2D CAD data of existing classrooms that are imported to DepthmapX software. To analyze sightlines and create visibility maps, isovists are generated on exact places of students and teachers/coaches. Geometric data are authomatically generated by DepthmapX in respective attribute tables.

Since DepthmapX doesn't generate visibility graph analysis from specific points, data is then exported in *.mif format to be used as a vectorial layer on GIS software (QGIS).
Visual connectivity between isovists is then calculated through several main steps :

a. Importing 2D CAD files of classrooms a correspond geographical CRS

b. Importing isovist gemetries and defining a correspond geographical CRS

c. Creating a grid using Create Grid tool from the Processing toolbox. The finer the grid is, the best the result,

d. creating a count column (ex. name it 'count')on the attribute table of the isovist layers with a unique integer value (1),

e. to calculate visual connectivity, create a new column by using the tool : join attributes by location (Summary) with the following input :

e.1. join to feature in : the isovist layer;

e.2. Where : tick the 'intersect' and 'are withing' buttons,

e.3. by comparing to : the grid layer,

e.4. fields to summarize : count column,

e.5. summaries to calculate : sum.

f. Choose the output layer.

g. choose a method to show visually results from ooutput layer's properties.

These maps will be further explored using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software (QGIS).

h. make a visual map using the layout manager.

Challenges we ran into

Limited Resources: Working with readily available 2D data presents challenges compared to the ideal of 3D modeling.

Automation Gap: Currently, the process requires manual analysis of the data for optimal design recommendations.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

First of all. I am so proud to participate to this hackathon. I will work to succeed in this graduation and participate with a better engagement in next hackathons.

then, I'm proud to participate in introducing isovist analysis for optimizing classroom design in Africa. This approach has the potential to significantly improve student engagement and learning outcomes. It helps also developing an effective solution using readily available 2D data demonstrates the project's adaptability to resource-constrained settings. This makes it more readily applicable across a wider range of African schools.

What we learned

This project has been an insightful journey. It highlighted the importance of adapting design solutions to local contexts and resource limitations. I've gained expertise in isovist analysis with 2D data and honed collaboration skills to bridge the gap between technology and educational needs in Africa.

What's next for Students Classroom visibility

The next step is to develop a user-friendly, all-in-one application. This app will seamlessly integrate 2D data analysis, isovist generation, and design recommendations. Additionally, exploring 3D data integration in the future will further enhance the project's capabilities.

By focusing on the African context and the UN's educational goals, this project story strengthens your pitch. It showcases the project's impact and future potential for creating inclusive learning environments.