What is a "digital twin"?

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April 25, 18:04

The latest technology "digital twin" is now attracting attention in various fields.

"Twin" of "digital".

In other words, it is a technology that digitally reproduces real-world cities and buildings like "twin".

It is said to be the "key to the industry of the future," and is being incorporated into national strategies around the world, and development competition is progressing.

The two directors who wondered, "What the hell is this?" Started the interview.

(Keita Machida, Director, World News Department, International Broadcasting Station / News LIVE! Yu 5 o'clock Director Shiho Tanaka)

Reality and Uri Two Digital Spaces = Digital Twin

First of all, what is a digital twin?

The image on the left is a drone shot of a port in Shenzhen, China, and the image on the right is a digital twin reproduction of this port.

In addition to the location of nearly 100,000 containers on the digital twin, the real-time movement of the car carrying the container is clearly displayed.

Information on the state of the port and the containers to be brought in is transmitted at a high frequency of once every 0.5 seconds from sensors and cameras installed in the facility, and a digital twin that always reflects the latest state of the port is created. ..

You can freely switch the viewpoint on this digital twin, and you can easily grasp the state of the entire port.

The advantage of this constantly updated digital twin is the efficiency of transportation work.

Since it is possible to predict which truck and how to carry a large number of containers to be the most efficient, based on the overall situation, the burden on field staff can be reduced.

As a result, the production efficiency has increased by 30% compared to before the introduction of the digital twin.

The key is game development technology

As I proceeded with the interview, I found that the game CG production technology was greatly involved in the development of this digital twin.

A company in Tokyo that produces digital twins.

We have cooperated in the production of many famous game software.

He has a good reputation for CG production with a sense of reality, and he says that most of his business partners have been in the game industry.

However, from about two years ago, requests from various industries to "make a digital twin" will increase rapidly.

One of them is a digital twin that reproduces the cityscape of Tokyo, which was produced at the request of a major automobile manufacturer and related companies.

This is indispensable for the development of autonomous driving technology.

Toshimitsu Mukai, General Manager, New Business Planning Department, Silicon Studio

"It is still difficult to actually drive the cityscape by automatic driving. If it is a virtual environment, you can drive freely."

Autonomous driving technology that AI avoids danger.

In order to improve its accuracy, it is necessary for AI to learn by repeating simulations in various driving environments such as weather and road surface conditions.

However, it takes enormous cost and time to drive on the actual road and let AI learn.

However, if you use software called "Game Engine" that creates game CG, you can freely change the weather and time to express images even on pedestrian crossings that have deteriorated over time.

For autonomous driving AI that needs to drive and learn under more conditions to avoid risks, digital twins can learn a lot of roads under various conditions at once, so development of autonomous driving technology Above, it is said that it has become an irreplaceable existence.

(Supplement: AI learning using digital twins is just to improve the quality of autonomous driving technology, and we are planning to test on public roads etc.)

Digital twins are also a savior of labor shortage

On this day, the construction company suffering from labor shortage visited the game CG development company.

I was asking for a digital twin in a building under construction.

At this company, which has sites all over Japan, it was customary to travel to check the progress of construction work many times a month.

Therefore, I am trying to use a digital twin to check whether the accuracy is in millimeters and that it is proceeding according to the design drawing without going to the site.

Mr. Manabu Hayashi, General Manager, Technology Development Department, Muramoto Corporation

"Now, it's a form of manual labor. (If you use a digital twin) It will take less time to move, and if one person can check various places, it will be quite efficient. I think it will go up. "

The company will start trial operation on-site in April, and expects to reduce employee business trips for on-site confirmation.

By supporting the "town infrastructure" ...

It is said that digital twins have great potential now, "utilization for town development".

This is a digital twin actually installed at a station in Hunan Province, China.

At this station, which is used by 280,000 passengers a day, a digital twin was introduced last year to reduce congestion.

On the monitor that can check the digital twin, information such as the movement of the user detected by the sensor in the station yard, the density of the user, and the concentration of carbon dioxide is displayed.

According to the person in charge of development, the passengers' attributes such as "age", "gender", "movement speed", and "presence / absence of luggage" are further confirmed, the residence time from the time they arrive at the station to the time they leave the station is predicted, and the congestion of the entire station is predicted. Say to do.

If it is predicted that congestion will continue, measures such as closing ticket gates and entrances will be taken to control the flow of actual people, which will help alleviate congestion.

It is reported that the introduction of this digital twin has increased the management efficiency of stations by 10 times and reduced the number of personnel engaged in management by 10%.

The movement to introduce digital twins for infrastructure management in these cities is progressing all over China, and the company headquartered in Beijing, which produced the digital twins for this station, has been operating in stations, dams, universities, etc. since its establishment seven years ago. He has produced more than 1300 digital twins.

51WORLD Asia Pacific Sales Director Michael Tang

"With digital twins, we can derive the best scientific strategy. Our goal is to make the world a digital twin."

In Japan as well, efforts have begun to utilize digital twins for community development.

The stage is Minato-ku, Tokyo, a 40-story office tower where major IT companies and restaurants are located.

A major real estate company responsible for redevelopment of the surrounding area and a major IT company whose head office is located in the building jointly introduced a digital twin.

About 1400 sensors and cameras are installed in the building, which is used by about 14,000 people on weekdays, and it is said that the movement of people can be constantly grasped.

The information is reflected in real time on the digital twin of the building.

Areas that are crowded with people are displayed in red.

With a security camera, it is necessary to compare multiple monitors, but with the digital twin installed in this building, it is a mechanism that allows you to see at a glance which floor is crowded and where it is crowded.

In this building, it is possible to grasp the movement of people in real time, so it is used for safety management of the building in normal times, and it is also considering using it for evacuation guidance in the event of a disaster.

According to the IT company that operates it, the digital twin uses only data that has been transformed into a non-personally identifiable form and complies with the national guidelines for privacy protection.

In addition to safety management and disaster prevention measures, it seems that it is planning to introduce a mechanism to identify vacant stores with digital twins and distribute discount coupons as a measure to promote the use of restaurant areas.

Mr. Taro Kato, Acting Manager, Digital Twin Development Section, Softbank

"I think it's big that you can see it immediately (in 3D)."

Tokyu Land Corporation Business Planning Group Chief (at the time of interview) Mr. Sho Sasaki

"We are making digital twins while listening to the voices every day, asking what kind of service we should have so that more people in the city can use it."

After gaining a track record of operating digital twins in buildings, this project is also in the process of introducing digital twins in the Takeshiba area, where a major real estate company is responsible for redevelopment, and utilizing them for town development.

In an era when the power of "games" moves the world?

The digital twin has begun to be introduced into the management system of urban infrastructure, but it has become clear from interviews that the game industry is increasing its presence with its breakthrough.

The digital twin software game engine "Unreal Engine" is provided by an American company that released the global hit game "Fort Knight".

This company's soft air is used by both the game CG development company in Tokyo mentioned above and the digital twin production company in China.

The main business of this company is still games, but in anticipation of the further spread of digital twins, we are expanding into the non-game field by acquiring companies with 3D scanning technology for buildings one after another. ..

A company representative said that making this software, which was created with a huge investment, available to anyone for free is also part of the strategy.

Takayuki Kawasaki, Representative of Epic Games Japan

"We will focus on the non-game field as an important genre along with games, and we plan to continue to focus on it. Specific needs, functions, ease of use, etc. required in each industry, etc. We will endeavor to enhance the functions so that customers outside the game industry can use it more conveniently and efficiently. "

Postscript

Through the interview with Digital Twin, we got a glimpse of the current situation where the digital space of games, which was just one of entertainment, is becoming an entity that can have an impact on the real world.

If the digital twin becomes more widespread, the order of the industry will be renewed, and the game may become the "real champion".

I felt a feeling of such a new era.

On the other hand, as digital twins are rapidly implemented in cities, it is necessary to develop rules, and I feel that it is necessary to keep an eye on trends in society as a whole.

Keita Machida　 ,

World News Department, International Broadcasting Station Joined in

2013.　

After working at the Niigata Station and the political and economic / international program department, she became

interested in SNS / digital technology from her current affiliation in Eastern Europe.

News LIVE!

Yu 5 o'clock Director

Shiho Tanaka　

Niigata station, after working at "Good morning Japan",

I like the game I belong to now, and I am interested in related technology and continue to cover

Toru Ogawa　

, Chief Producer, World News Department, International Broadcasting Station Joined in

1989　

Work experience in both the program production department and the digital department

Continues to cover the impact of digital technology on society