Bentley Creates Virtual Singapore in 3D as a Revolutionary Model of Global Urban Design

• 1 January 2024
• Construction Focus
• 2208 Views

Bentley Systems has pioneered a groundbreaking virtual application that leverages real-time data to project a 3D map of Singapore, revolutionising the way urban planning is approached. This innovative platform, known as Virtual Singapore, offers a dynamic 3D digital replica of the city-state, built on topographical and real-time, dynamic data. It serves as the authoritative platform for simulations and virtual tests, empowering various sectors to enhance their operations and decision-making processes.

Virtual Singapore offers many benefits​ including:

1. General Public: Virtual Singapore provides 3D embedded city information on a realistic platform to connect, create awareness, and deliver services that enrich the community. For example, the platform can be used to locate facilities or amenities in the neighbourhood.
2. Businesses: Businesses can tap into the wealth of data and information within the Virtual Singapore platform for their business analytics, resource planning, and delivery of specialised services. For instance, the platform can be used to visualise data related to energy consumption, solar efficiency of buildings, and transportation efficiency, providing a comprehensive understanding of the city’s dynamics.
3. Research Community: The research community can create innovations and technologies for public-private collaborations to create value for Singapore. Virtual Singapore offers a collaborative platform with a rich data environment and visualisation, enabling researchers to test concepts planning, and decision-making, and generate community collaboration.
4. Government: Virtual Singapore is a critical enabler to enhance various government initiatives for building a Smart Nation. The platform empowers government agencies to enhance their operations and decision-making processes, facilitating the swift identification of areas in need of urgent maintenance along train tracks, and contributing to the seamless functioning of the transportation network.

The Virtual Singapore project is a joint effort led by the National Research Fund, the Singapore Land Authority and the Government Technology Agency, using Bentley Systems’ Digital Twins or iTwins technology.

What is Digital Twin?

Digital twins are real-time, virtual replicas of physical and biological entities, which can be used to help achieve sustainability goals in various industries, including manufacturing and product design. These virtual replicas can provide valuable insights into energy consumption, waste management, and resource utilization, enabling organizations to optimise their strategies and reduce their carbon footprint. Example: A real estate company can use Virtual Singapore to analyse the energy consumption of buildings in a particular area and plan accordingly.

“Underground, you have utility. You have underground space. So we are looking for mapping and capturing all these data sets underground including utility data in 3D. And we want to do this accurately to be able to support planning and space management underground”, Victor Khoo is the Director of Survey and Geomatics at the Singapore Land Authority.

Greg Demchak, Senior Director at Bentley Systems, expressed, “We think of digital twin as a very nice way to contextualise and make understandable different strategy toward sustainability because you can see practically where the intervention needs to take place in the context of your city and you easily visualize it and see it in a very interactive 3D way.”

He further added, “Another interesting thing is it is connected to the Google solar API and what that allows you to do it to see where is the total solar potential available if you are to install solar panels across the Singapore island.”

Video:

• Technology and Engineering
• Digital and Smart City
• Bentley
• Digital Twin
• Engineering Software
• iLab