Digital Replication of Large Cities Within 10cm Error Margin
Versatile Applications in Smart Cities and Autonomous Vehicles
Saudi NEOM City Also Shows Interest... Global Expansion Accelerates
[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] The glass covering the 63 Building sparkles with a golden hue. Shadows of buildings are cast over Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). When shining on the Olympic Expressway passing Jamsil Baseball Stadium, even lane markings and road symbols are visible. At first glance, it looks like actual city footage taken by a drone, but it is a digitally created 3D model. It is a 'digital twin' of the mega-city Seoul, spanning an area of 605㎢ with 600,000 buildings, recreated within an error margin of 10cm. Naver has mobilized ICT technology to realize this 'twin city' in virtual space.
Mapping Robots, AI, 3D Solutions All Mobilized... Seoul Replicated in One Month
A digital twin is a virtual world that scans an entire real-world space or object. Naver created Seoul’s digital twin using aerial photography, Mobile Mapping System (MMS), artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and more.
An aircraft took 25,000 photos over Seoul’s skies, and MMS equipped with sensors on vehicles captured areas where aerial photography was impossible, such as tunnels and bridges. AI fills in the corners where photos could not be taken and renders them into a 3D model. All these devices and solutions are part of Naver’s proprietary 'ALIKE solution.'
To replicate large indoor spaces like department stores and performance halls, mapping robots from the M series and backpack-style T series are deployed. Robots roam buildings or people carry the T series while filming. Naver’s second office building 1784 was digitally twinned using this method, allowing the robot 'Rookie' to navigate without getting lost. The underground shopping mall at Bupyeong Station, famous for its complex 'dungeon'-like layout, also requires no map when implemented as a digital twin. By scanning the surroundings with a camera, one can instantly know their location.
With all technologies combined, various data can be obtained from the digital twin. From 3D city models to road structure information and high-precision maps, the data can be used according to purpose. The ability to acquire diverse information at once makes Naver’s approach cost-efficient as well.
Baek Jong-yoon, Chief Leader at Naver Labs, explained, "While Singapore manually drew buildings one by one in CAD, Naver improved efficiency by utilizing multiple technologies. For Seoul, aerial photography took 17 days, and subsequent processing took 30 days."
Building a Massive Urban Laboratory... Saudi Arabia’s NEOM City Also Shows 'Interest'
Digital twins are considered core technology in various fields because they can predict product lifespans and optimize production processes. They are especially gaining attention in urban planning. For example, Singapore uses its digital twin project 'Virtual Singapore' to analyze urban wind corridors and solar panel installation efficiency. Simulations can be performed on what the external view looks like from a specific apartment floor or how rainfall affects the city’s drainage system. Like in the movie 'Apollo 13,' where Earth-based simulations were applied to astronauts during a space accident, a massive urban laboratory is being created.
Saudi Arabia’s NEOM City has also sent a love call to Naver’s digital twin technology. Naver has entered the bidding for NEOM City by combining its digital twin solutions with cloud and robotics technologies. With Saudi Arabia showing interest in Naver’s technological capabilities, Naver visited Saudi Arabia earlier this month with the NEOM City bidding support team.
Kang Sang-chul, Chief Leader at Naver Labs who visited Saudi Arabia, said, "Meeting government officials and companies, we found high interest in digital twin solutions themselves. Naver’s competitiveness lies in covering everything from infrastructure needed for smart cities to backend technology and user services."
Results are already becoming visible. Naver is collaborating with SoftBank on a project to create high-precision maps of major Japanese cities. Currently in the final stage of technology verification (PoC), the plan is to launch it as a cloud service in Japan next year.
Leader Baek said, "Due to security issues, aerial photography and its applications are limited domestically, but overseas it is relatively free. We hope to discover various cases abroad, including large projects like NEOM City."
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