The Cyprus Institute

About: The Cyprus Institute is a other organization based out in Nicosia, Cyprus. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Aerosol & Environmental science. The organization has 418 authors who have published 1252 publications receiving 32586 citations.

Immersive Computing and Crowd Simulation Techniques in Modelling Urban Commons: The Case of Nicosia-Cyprus

Abstract: This article reports on the technical development and testing of the basic components of a virtual environment platform that could be used for the cross-disciplinary study of complex urban realities, such as the historic city of Nicosia, Cyprus - the last divided capital of Europe. This platform captures data of virtual visitors' movements in space, and the article suggests that these data could help better understand the impact of planning scenarios and design interventions in open public spaces that used to be popular among the citizens of the historic city. The article presents how this platform uses interaction and immersion opportunities to engage citizens and stakeholders in the management of public open spaces that are associated with built heritage. Crowd simulation is discussed as a computational technique that when is combined with the presented virtual environment platform, and under the right conditions, would contribute to a digital practice for small-scale urban modelling. However, it is beyond the scope of this technical note to provide a full empirical testing and validation of the presented immersive virtual environment.

Energy poverty in Europe: Challenges for energy efficiency

Abstract: Energy and fuel poverty is an increasing problem in the European Union. Although the specific conditions vary from country to country the drivers defining fuel and energy poverty are similar in all Europe. This paper aims to present the characteristics of the low income housing including details on the thermal and environmental quality of houses and the specific energy consumption. Existing energy efficiency and passive solar technologies to improve the energy and environmental quality of low income houses are reviewed and discussed while real projects addressing issues related to the energy performance of poor households are presented.