As part of the AIStart project within the Immersive Sustainability Lab, the Espoonlahti Health Centre has been recreated as a social digital twin on Cluster’s metaverse platform.
Within AIStart, Helsinki XR Center at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences works to support companies and cities by piloting tools, developing prototypes and examining how XR and AI-assisted workflows can be applied to concrete challenges. In collaboration with the City of Espoo and Cluster, the Espoonlahti Health Centre has been brought into the metaverse as a social digital twin, aligning with Espoo’s broader ambition to extend its urban digital twin and explore cityverse environments.
The prototype presents the Espoonlahti Health Centre as a shared and easily accessible virtual space where residents, municipal staff and planners can learn, practise and work together.
In this Proof of Concept, emergency evacuation is experienced in a spatial and social way. Users enter the virtual health centre as avatars via mobile devices, web browsers, PCs or VR headsets, move through the building, follow evacuation paths and interact with guided instructions and information points.
The Espoonlahti pilot serves as an early example of how XR and AI-enabled workflows can translate urban digital twin strategies into practical pilots that enhance safety, communication and citizen participation.
See the original article by Janset Shawash on Helsinki XR Center’s website.