Parkour Vision

Ways of seeing playability

Hi there! And thank you for your interest in contributing to this project.

About this project:

My name is Kel Glaister, and I am a parkour coach and practitioner, and artist. I am currently undertaking a PhD in Design at RMIT, in Naarm Melbourne, Australia. The focus of my research is parkour vision, and its potential to contribute to how we think about and design public spaces.  

The outcomes of this research will be a suite of play spaces and equipment which can be placed in any urban space, in a variety of configurations, to create playable urban space and encourage all citizens to see their cities as playable. The results of this research will be used by the researcher, Kel Glaister, to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.  

Online Talk-alouds

This stage of the research is focused how parkour practitioners see and experience public space. To this end, I’ve collected a group of video walk-throughs of parkour spots in cities around the world, and attached them to online forms that can record sounds.

This project asks parkour practitioners to take part in talk-aloud protocols while watching these videos. That means watching the video and narrating what you think about as you do - that could be anything, from what you think about the design of the space, how it makes you feel, what it reminds you of, the possibilities you see in the space, or nothing at all.

Please note: This research activity is focused on parkour practitioners of any level of experience, confidence or ability (including those who don’t train as much as they used to.) If you’re not a parkour practitioner, there will be other activities that you can contribute to - please add your contact details to the form at the bottom of this page.

How to join in:

First, please click here to read and sign the Participant Information and Consent form, which includes more information about the project, as well as your rights and how your data will be handled.

Then, click one of the city names below, to be taken to an online form. (Feel free to do more than one!)

There, you will be asked to enter a few details about yourself, and then to start recording your voice while you watch a video. (If you can’t or don’t want to record sound, you can type in your thoughts as you watch instead.) If you are comfortable speaking (or writing) in English, please do. But if you’d prefer to contribute in your native tongue, I’ll do my best to translate it.

There are more detailed instructions in each form, but if you have any questions, please feel free to email Kel at s3991549@student.rmit.edu.au, or pop it in the contact form below.

And PLEASE share this form with your training buddies and parkour communities!