UST has developed advanced metaverse and web3 capabilities. Their research has shown that a deeper connection to virtual environments is made possible with an increased sense of the persistence of personal and collective achievement and by drawing more heavily on the physical world through real-time updates to the virtual. The company has an ambitious goal to create a digital twin of nature that can alleviate the disconnection of society from the natural environment. For both daytrippers and rural communities, nature is soothing and inspiring. It both educates and requires educating about. Moreover, it is very diverse in climate, flora and fauna: deserts, plains, coasts, forrests, mountains. However, a deep connection is impractical for much of the population where cost, time and physical ability are barriers to leaving the urban environment. Bringing nature to these communities will create opportunities for therapeutic, educational and research applications. For example, urban schools could be twinned with specific natural environments, almost like a mascot. Thus the vision is to “sensorise” an area of nature (woodland, wetland, parkland) and create a interactive VR version (metaverse) that will adapt according to the sensor data, e.g. with seasons, tree growth, animal migration, hibernation, weather etc. over different time frames (e.g. saplings to mature trees, or rain to sun).

To execute this vision it is necessary to perfect the link between the physical and the virtual. Countless parameters and data points can be measured, mapped and reproduced: visuals, relative and absolute location of specimens and species, temperature, precipitation, humidity, luminosity, fauna, their life cycles and migrations, vegetation growth of diverse species as a whole (e.g. a grassy hilltop) and specific specimens, etc. Against each, there is a need for a pragmatic optimisation of multiple variables that change over time: data granularity, cost effectiveness, user experience, etc.

Therefore, this demonstrator will produce an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of a digital twin of nature that can inform future iterations towards commercially viable applications for environmental science, rural governance, education, therapy, research into ecology and tourism, as well as specific tools such as land management, forest fire management, control of invasive species and plant diseases.

Added value by Swarmchestrate: Getting and processing the data collected from the physical environment cost-effectively is a fundamental issue for Cloud-to-Edge systems. In a full-scale deployment in a large woodland or lake, a vast amount of data can be collected that is expensive to transmit. Edge processing and swarming between on-location devices can preprocess data and reduce overall storage, transmission and processing costs to make this a viable technology. Such a concept requires Swarmchestrate’s help in managing the application accurately and also appropriately, reflecting more on the smaller differences than on the overall values. For example, the twin does not need to be micromanaged with smaller changes that have no impact on the outcomes for the end user. Turning the virtual environment into a compelling, meaningful experience with persistence for each individual user relies on web3, decentralised knowledge and secure identity so that each user’s activity within the twin has persistence for that individual. With a final goal of increasing the TRL of this exciting concept, Swarmchestrate will prepare the ground for full scale digital twins that harness the localised digital resources to inform of real time changes to be made to virtual environments enjoyed by many remote users. The demonstrator will generate novel and very complex challenges generating requirements for each of the components, stretching the creativity of their designers, pushing their developers and expanding the research and exploitation potential of the project.