Innovation is not merely about developing new technologies, but about the ability to transform them into concrete tools for understanding, interpreting, and revitalizing local areas.
With this vision in mind, ViaSky Srl participated as a technology partner in HABITARE 2050 in Reggio Calabria, an initiative part of the New European Bauhaus program. Conceived as a workshop dedicated to the future of living, the event brought together research, design, sustainability, and digital innovation to envision new models of urban and regional development. The collaboration withthe MEDITERRANEA University of Reggio Calabria and the design dialogue with BIG fostered a shared path of field experimentation, in which academic expertise, design vision, and technology were meaningfully integrated.
A central part of the three-day program was the hackathon, a co-design workshop that brought together the university and the village of Podargoni, transforming the area into an open-air laboratory. Students and professionals worked together using remote surveys and advanced digital tools to experiment with new approaches to decision-making processes and e-government as they apply to contemporary living.
During the hackathon, participants worked with various digital tools designed for data collection, analysis, and design. Among these, Mood—the platform developed by ViaSky—enabled the integration of geographic data, point clouds, multimedia content, and artificial intelligence models into a single environment, making the information collected in the field immediately available and facilitating collaboration among the different working groups.
Thanks to this integrated approach, the teams were able to develop preliminary structural analyses, thermal simulations, energy assessments, and material analyses, while also using conversational artificial intelligence models to support their design activities. These analyses made it possible to identify the main challenges related to water stress, evaluate areas potentially suitable for the development of Renewable Energy Communities, define strategies for green space management, and develop proposals focused on the recovery and reuse of materials in accordance with circular economy principles.
Another area of experimentation involved the creation of defect reports based on images collected during inspections. Thanks to the AI models integrated into Mood—which were trained on datasets consistent with the methodologies and classification criteria adopted by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation—it was possible to generate summary reports that serve as preliminary support for subsequent analysis and intervention planning activities.
The experience also highlighted the value of a multidisciplinary approach, in which experts from different fields were able to collaborate on the same information assets, sharing data, analyses, and artificial intelligence tools within a common workflow.
At the conclusion of the event, ViaSky participated in the roundtable discussion dedicated to presenting the hackathon’s results, sharing the insights that emerged alongside the Mediterranean University and BIG.
The HABITARE 2050 experience confirms that the integration of digital surveying, geographic data, and artificial intelligence can transform geographic analysis into a collaborative decision-making process. For ViaSky, this is the direction in which Mood is evolving: a platform that connects research, design, and the community, transforming data into actionable knowledge to support urban regeneration and sustainability.
