A Walk in Latent City

Machine learning models are increasingly applied in design and engineering contexts to accompany and inform the process of making design decisions. Understanding how the training data for these models is structured is important to fostering critical engagements with contemporary, data-intensive design practices. Through a case study in urban data comprising thousands of geometric models of buildings in Montréal, Canada, A Walk in a Latent City, is a custom immersive 3-D virtual environment allowing users to leap back and forth between the urban space of the city and a spatial representation of the latent space of the machine learning model.

Controls:

• WASD to move your player
• F to toggle Fly Mode
• E and Q to move up and down in Fly Mode