TUBITAK 1001 Project was Presented to the Experience of Individuals Over 65.
TUBITAK 1001 Project, in which the Hamamyolu Bazaar between 1940-80 was modeled with VR Technology, was presented to the experience of individuals over the age of 65.
Based on the problem of the disappearance of social and individual memory due to the disappearance of urban spaces where individuals lived in the past due to the rapidly changing urbanization processes, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Department of Architecture faculty member Prof. Dr. Ayşen ÇELEN ÖZTÜRK prepared under the leadership of Tübitak 1001 “Reminiscence Box Experience Design” project, Hamamyolu Bazaar 1940-80 years Virtual Reality model application was presented to the experience of individuals over the age of 65 who knew Hamamyolu bazaar at that time. In the application held at Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Porsuk Guest House on November 20-21, the participants, who walked in the area modeled with virtual reality glasses, listened to the old two-storey houses on the banks of Akar stream, wooden bridges, the marketplace established on Wednesday and Saturday, old shops, carriages and the voice recordings of the memories of the people living in that period, and walked among the people walking around in the fashionable clothes of that period. Before and after this exciting virtual reality experience, the memory elements of the Hamamyolu Bazaar of the past years of the participants over the age of 65 were analyzed in a conversational atmosphere with their memories, and the effect of virtual reality experience on recollection was investigated. After the virtual reality experience, the virtual reality (VR) application will be developed and revised in line with the criticisms made by individuals over the age of 65 on the visual data of the period they lived with their revived memories. The revised “Hamamyolu Bazaar Past Period Virtual Reality Experience” will first be presented to the experience of all urbanites over the age of 18 at the Atilla Özer Cartoon Exhibition House in May-June 2025, and then it will be placed in the Urban Memory Museum.
Digitalization of Hamamyolu Bazaar's Past Memory
With the digital modeling of Hamamyolu Bazaar between 1940-1980, the role of new technologies in the transmission of urban memory is emphasized. This 30-month project, which is coordinated by Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir Technical University, Harran University, Yeditepe University, Tepebaşı Municipality, Pencuse Digital and Alzheimer's Association Eskişehir Branch, aims to ensure the sustainability of Urban Memory by creating a Digital Archive of Urban Memory with the “UrbanMemoryBox” model.
Experience of Reminiscence Therapy in Dementia Patients
The developed Virtual Reality Past City Simulation was also applied to patients in the early stages of dementia diagnosis with the contributions of the Alzheimer's Association, and it was planned to share the contribution of the city simulation prepared with past urban space visuals to trigger memories and recall in academic environments.
