ABSTRACT
Physical-virtual simulations of wind parks have the potential to lead to the local public being better informed and involved in the planning process, prerequisites for a broader acceptance of wind parks. A GIS-based visual-acoustic simulation tool (VisAsim) that was developed for landscape impact assessment of wind parks allows people to perceive more sensually the visual-aesthetic impact as well as the sounds generated by rotating turbine blades. This article presents the ways this simulation can be presented to the public and documents the results of a survey exploring the attractiveness of VisAsim as an information medium and its quality of support for public opinion forming. A demonstrator for VisAsim was built and used at a public exhibition. In a survey of visitors to the exhibition, the quality of VisAsim was tested and compared to a fact sheet informing them about two wind park scenarios. The results show positive tendencies of VisAsim supporting imagination and opinion forming of the wind park scenarios, especially for people without wind park experience. Further, the simulations initiated dialogues with the public revealing their attitudes and beliefs. However, conducting the survey at an exhibition appeared to be unfavourable for an experimental study setting. Further research is required to identify when and how to implement VisAsim into the planning process, accompanied by an in-depth survey on the added value of VisAsim for opinion forming and for the quality of the overall planning process. Furthermore, research should focus on the required level of realism in the aural representation of acoustic environments for different planning tasks.
