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IMSC has received additional support from the Annenberg Center for Communication for IMSC GeoDec project research to explore a range of applications in urban planning and democratic empowerment.

The new grant, which is in addition to the Annenberg Center's annual support for IMSC research, will fund research to extend GeoDec's interactive three-dimensional tools to downtown Los Angeles, to depict the area as it now exists and to support planning of the proposed $1.8 billion redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles.

This research project will be conducted in conjunction with the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the Lear Center's Grand Avenue Intervention, focusing on a proposed new park for downtown Los Angeles.

IMSC's GeoDec research includes a family of interactive, three-dimensional, highly accurate visualization tools, from rapid modeling to depiction of live dynamic data, including live video. Led by Professor Cyrus Shahabi, GeoDec is part of IMSC's Decision Support research area, which is devoted to research on presenting massive amounts of data in real time in forms and displays that can be quickly understood.

"This is precisely the type of cutting edge interdisciplinary project that the Annenberg Center for Communication should be supporting," said Jonathan Aronson, professor and executive director of the Annenberg Center for Communication, announcing the new grant.

"We are grateful for the recognition of IMSC research in this area," said Adam C. Powell III, Director of IMSC. "We are eager to expand the Center's research into new and exciting areas of urban planning and civic engagement."

"The beauty of these tools," added Martin Kaplan, associate dean of the USC Annenberg School and director of the Norman Lear Center, "is that they will help both citizens and design professionals, no matter where they are located, imagine alternate futures for a real physical space."

"We are very excited to work with Annenberg on this project and we see it as an opportunity to extend GeoDec's utilities to the Urban Planning application area," said Cyrus Shahabi of the IMSC.

The Annenberg Center for Communication is an independent USC center that identifies and supports cross-disciplinary communications research, education and dissemination across the university. More at http://www.annenberg.edu/

Based at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, the Norman Lear Center is a multidisciplinary research and public policy center exploring implications of the convergence of entertainment, commerce, and society. More on the Norman Lear Center's Grand Avenue Intervention project at http://www.grandintervention.org.