IPPSO is a transdisciplinary research initiative exploring the future of phygital public spaces and their impact on democracy, human rights, and urban life.
Initially called Transdisciplinary Legal, Public Policy, and Design Research on Immersive Phygital Public Spaces in Smart Cities, the project explores the intersection of law, policy, and design in the governance of phygital public spaces, where digital layers mediate human interactions and shape urban experiences. Bringing together legal scholars, designers, and policymakers, the project develops new methodologies for regulating emerging technologies such as smart glasses and spatial computing in urban settings.
Through speculative design and policy research, IPPSO offers actionable insights to navigate the challenges of AI-driven phygital urban environments, ensuring inclusive, ethical, and democratic governance of tomorrow’s cities.
Our approach integrates legal analysis with speculative design workshops conducted in Jerusalem and Potsdam, engaging 60 participants across government, industry, academia, and civil society. Using gamified, scenario-based methods, we explored policy blind spots, power asymmetries, and socio-technical frictions inherent to phygital public spaces. Our research proposes innovative policy frameworks, such as the Ethics of Interactions, to ensure that technological progress aligns with human rights and democratic values.
A unique aspect of the project is its comparative approach, incorporating perspectives from European and non-European contexts, particularly Israel and Germany. IPPSO is a collaborative effort between UCLAB at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, the Bezalel Academy for Arts and Design in Jerusalem, and the Israel Democracy Institute. It is generously funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.