Las Vegas bets on digital twin technology

Las Vegas is hoping that by making a digital twin of itself it can reduce carbon emissions

The US city of Las Vegas is to create a digital twin of itself with a view to helping reduce carbon emissions.

It is hoped that the digital twin of the city’s buildings, transportation systems and infrastructure will give planners, building owners and system operators better visibility into their assets’ operations to improve mobility, air quality, noise pollution, water management and emissions.

The digital twin will initially just be an area of downtown, but will eventually include the whole city.

Las Vegas chief innovation officer, Michael Sherwood, said, “Digital Twins are rapidly becoming vital to how cities are run. Now in Las Vegas we will have a city-scale digital twin that is driven by the physical environment, and ultimately letting us control key systems through it.

“This will give us new levels of insights and control to benefit city planners, residents, and businesses. We’re setting the benchmark for cities around the world to become smarter, efficient, safer and more sustainable.”

The digital twin will be constructed with the help of two technology companies, Cityzenith and Terbine.

Cityzenith will provide the project’s Digital Twin technology as part of its ‘Clean Cities - Clean Future’ initiative to implement its SmartWorldOS Digital Twin platform in major world cities to drive down urban emissions and improve cost efficiencies.

Terbine brings together and contextualizes IoT data from local government agencies, building operators, transportation systems, vehicle manufacturers and more, to provide the high volumes of sensor information needed.

The first iteration of the Las Vegas Digital Twin’ will be shown at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2022.