Digital twins and metaverse to facilitate mobility

Continuously growing urbanization and infrastructures not always suitable to support the constant changes that metropolitan areas require today and which will be increasingly essential, if it is true that by 2050 almost 70% of the world population will live in a large city. Added to this is the battle for sustainability that cities are now called upon to win, reducing emissions, improving traffic and implementing innovative solutions and strategies to guarantee progress and well-being, without compromising with the environment.

In this context the key lies in technology, capable of overcoming even the infrastructural limits of urban areas. Innovations such as the Internet of Things (IoT), data analysis, artificial intelligence and cloud computing are today capable of redesigning the landscape of urban mobility, while intelligent transport systems (ITS) and Mobility as a service (MaaS) are among the most advanced solutions already in use.

Its applies today to road transport, infrastructure, vehicles and users, but also to traffic and mobility management. At the center is a virtuous mix between hardware, such as sensors, detection cameras, controllers, traffic lights and smart motorway toll booths, and software such as solutions for advanced traffic management, communications between vehicles, and between vehicles and everything else, the adaptive traffic control, advanced planning and traffic simulations. Today there is an enormous variety of data sources useful for measuring traffic variables, but this data must be “cleaned”, filtered and appropriately aggregated to fully exploit the information that can be obtained from them. The process of analysis and interpretation therefore becomes fundamental and, above all, an ecosystem and a common language. A key role today is played by machine learning systems and artificial intelligence, capable of managing, analyzing and exploiting an impressive amount of data from heterogeneous sources, offering instant interpretation. And this is why AI is becoming a crucial element for the cities of the future. Among the most interesting applications in urban areas is the intelligent coordination of road signs and traffic lights, which can dynamically adapt to traffic conditions in real time, using complex algorithms to optimize times based on the volume of vehicles, the direction of flow and other factors. This allows you to reduce waiting times and improve traffic flow, while reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions. Artificial Intelligence, however, is not the only innovation to have taken hold in the urban context in recent years: among the most advanced technologies already adopted there is also the metaverse and the digital twin, i.e. a virtual clone of a city or a neighborhood, capable of reflecting its behavior. It is not a static model, but rather a dynamic one that constantly changes in step with its physical counterpart, thanks to the real-time exchange of data between reality and its virtual reproduction.

There are several examples of cities around the world that have already experimented with innovations of this type. Among the most interesting is Perth, Australia, which has built a cutting-edge road network operations center and which is now capable of managing, predicting and remodulating any traffic environment: from high-speed highways to urban and up to suburban construction works and the planning of complex events that may impact mobility. Even the Moscow Traffic Control Center is now a system capable of monitoring in real time more than 40 thousand traffic lights, 185 information screens, over 3 thousand cameras and cameras and 3,900 sensors. In addition to the creation of a “digital twin” of the city and the presence of an integrated Mobility as a service platform available to citizens, Moscow is now working on the implementation of a vehicle-infrastructure communication system (V2I): a wireless connection that allows for example vehicles to share data with traffic lights and road signs, using built-in sensors and detection devices. An ambitious project that should contribute to increasing safety levels.

Certainly investments in intelligent traffic management systems have in many cases proven to be cheaper than those in new road infrastructures. Furthermore, according to a recent report by Juniper Research, thanks to them we might save around 7 billion hours of traffic worldwide by 2028, so much so that – the study also estimates – investments in these technologies will generate revenues of 18.5 billion of dollars once more in 2028. In short, ITS can play a significant role in improving road safety, reducing congestion, optimizing transport efficiency, improving mobility and reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts. A European Commission report found that the biggest benefits of ITS include reducing travel times and increasing efficiency (66%), reducing accident rates (22%) and saving fuel consumption. (11%). Added to this is also a key role on the security front: these systems can in fact help to recognize and prevent anomalous crowd gatherings and movements, provide monitoring of criminal events in the area, and analyzes and forecasts on risk models that take into consideration the urban context.