The concept of a digital twin consists of recreating, in virtual form, an existing infrastructure, in this case an entire city, in order to study its behaviour and seek to optimise its performance and predict possible dysfunctions or catastrophes. Currently, projects of this kind are multiplying as a means of optimizing urban planning. After Asia and the United States, the phenomenon is now spreading to Europe.
In Stuttgart, the municipality will soon be able to monitor a whole host of metrics from a single, dedicated software program. This will make it possible to view a multitude of data in real time, from sensors installed all over the city. This will include water quality, flooding levels during heavy rain, and parking space occupancy on a daily basis.
In the long run, the metrics should also help the city deal with climate change and future pandemics. Hexagon, a company specialising in digital reality solutions, will be assisted in this project by Fujitsu. The digital twin platform they plan to develop will help the Stuttgart city authorities make decisions specifically tailored to reality situations and, as a result, to improve the lives of the more than 630,000 residents of the state capital of Baden-Württemberg.
Note that some even more advanced initiatives have already seen the light of day, notably in Seoul and Singapore, where the cities have been entirely modelled in 3D. – AFP Relaxnews