Cities are complex cultural developments, dependant on urban development plans, architecture, heritage sites, cultural, social and economic structures and much more. Therefore, research on the historical evolvement of cities is a multi-faceted task and needs a multidisciplinary view of experts.
The online research tool 4D Browser enables a spatio-temporal immersion into the architectural-historical development of a city with a digital 3D city model enriched with historical photographs and a timeline. The 4D Browser was developed in the junior research group HistStadt4D (UrbanHistory4D) at the University of Würzburg in cooperation with the Technical University of Dresden. An interdisciplinary team of PhD students and postdocs developed the interactive online application between 2016 and 2021. This prototype, which includes the city of Dresden, is currently under further development.
The aim is to develop the existing 4D Browser into a 4D Community Browser. For this purpose, the application possibilities for the research community are being fundamentally expanded. This will be realised on the basis of the results of a user study as well as by linking the 4D Browser with other digital and interactive applications in the field of historical urban research and tourist development of cultural heritage sites. The resulting advanced online application aims on suggesting innovative ways to actively involve the research community in regard to shaping the tool, researching the historical development of cities and providing open access to cultural heritage for research and the public alike.