The creation of Digital Twins is becoming more and more relevant for companies, organizations, and even governments around the world.
Some are for entertainment and exploration, like the Digital Twin of Earth created for Microsoft Flight Simulator and then Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Some have much more “serious” applications, like the Digital Twin of the human heart created in Japan to simulate surgeries before the execution of the real procedure.
Another impressively large and complex application of the concept also comes from Japan, with the government of Tokyo having launched a project to create a full-fledged Digital Twin of the city and its surroundings.
The goal is to have it fully realized by 2030 in order to use it in a variety of applications to solve environmental problems and help improve the quality of life of citizens.
“In a rapidly changing and uncertain social environment, Tokyo faces a wide range of challenges, including a declining birthrate and aging population, changes in the flow of people and goods,the threat of climate change, and preparations for an earthquake directly beneath the capital.
To solve these problems, it is essential to adapt to changes by making full use of digital technology.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government aimsto solve these problems and improve the quality of life of Tokyo residents by realizing a digital twin that combines cyberspace and physical space through collaboration between industry, academia, and government.”
What makes this project special is that its results are publicly accessible, and you can check out the data yourself in a special “Tokyo 3D Model” interface that can be accessed on the official website of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The interface lets you load an absolutely massive variety of data, with the latest and perhaps most impressive being a full point cloud render of all the wards of the city, allowing its visualization in incredible detail.
In order to start loading data on the map, you need to click on “Explore Map Data” and then select the data sets you want to visualize.
The applications are endless, with the ability to study urban planning subjects like fire prevention areas and park spaces, or management aspects like repair, dredging, road building, ofslope protection work, and much more.
You can visualize census data and study population growth, check out public utility cameras monitoring water levels, and tackle a wide range of disaster prevention topics, from flooding-prone areas to evacuation shelter distribution.
There’s even a “Living and Lifestyle” section in which you can find specialized information logged by ward. Want to know about “Delicious Vegetables and Walking: A vegetable course that will satisfy both your body and mind” in Sumida Ward? You certainly can.
Perhaps you’re interested in enjoying a “Showa retro atmosphere and nature in an academic town” in Shinjuku ward? Look no further than within the hundreds of areas of exploration provided by this growing Digital Twin.
The government of the city hopes to promote the use of digital twins in daily work both within the agency and in various activities outside the agency. To achieve that goal, they’re building this “digital twin data collaboration platform” that “aggregates geospatial data from inside and outside the agency and provides and visualizes data across the board.”
The final form of the project will acquire real-time data using advanced sensor and communication technologies, use the 3D visualization of said data as a test bed, and provide real-world feedback that can be used for decision-making, system control, and more.
The plan is to use the project in a variety of fields, including “disaster prevention, urban development, mobility, the environment, and industry like tourism, and more.”
Of course, since this is Simulation Daily, the first thing I’m doing after finishing this article is sending this website to Microsoft. Hopefully, they can use the data to overhaul the city of Tokyo in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. It certainly needs it since its photogrammetry for the Japanese capital is from September 2014. I know because I was there and I can recognize the billboards advertising certain video games in Akihabara. I’m that much of a nerd.
