New Reality Emulator contract sets BDFI on path to building its pioneering digital twin facility

Impression of the Reality Emulator University of Bristol

Press release issued: 6 September 2023

Bristol Digital Futures Institute has signed a contract with audio-visual immersive technology company Mechdyne, to build the immersive visualisation suite of its Reality Emulator.

A new contract between BDFI and Mechdyne is taking the Institute a step closer to delivering the world’s first large-scale, collaborative emulation facility to drive sociotechnical innovation.

The BDFI Reality Emulator is a technologically advanced sector-agnostic digital twin facility, which will provide access to a rich environment of real-world research and experimentation platforms. This new contract will provide the Reality Emulator with a high quality shared immersive workspace that enables 6-8 people to experience interactive visualisation.

Users will be able to create digital twins of a range of real-life scenarios, which they can test, develop and innovate. This can include exploring and testing anything from cities, future mobile networks research and smart classrooms, to helping planners understand societal responses to pandemics.

Mechdyne, a technology company specialising in immersive, virtual and augmented reality, will be creating the visualisation front end of the Reality Emulator.

The Reality Emulator facility compliments the BDFI XR (extended reality) suite with high-end Varjo VR headsets. The suite allows users to experience different types of digital reality using LiDAR and hand tracking technologies.

Professor Dimitra Simeonidou, Co-Director of Bristol Digital Futures Institute, said: “This is a very exciting and positive step forward in completing our pioneering sector-agnostic digital twinning facility. The Reality Emulator will offer multi-user, multipurpose, interactive immersive capabilities that will allow users to experience future digital transformation scenarios. We look forward to working with Mechdyne to see the immersive experiences part of the reality emulator come to life.”

Richard Cashmore, UK Country Manager at Mechdyne, said: “This collaborative effort in creating a worlds-first experience, will push the boundaries of visualisation and its utilisation for BDFI, and the Mechdyne team is excited to be involved in this opportunity. Our team specialises in worlds-first visualisation technology design and implementation, and we are thrilled to collaborate on this project.”

ENDS

Further information

You can read more about the Reality Emulator on the BDFI website.

The immersive visualisation suite is forecast to be operational in Q2 of 2024 and BDFI welcomes interested parties from across sectors and disciplines to take part in the pilot phase. To discuss the opportunity please contact bdfi-enquiries@bristol.ac.uk

About BDFI

The Bristol Digital Futures Institute is a £100m initiative to develop cutting-edge digital innovation, and transform the way we create digital technologies, for more sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous futures. Working with over 100 researchers and 28 partners, the institute is developing the physical facilities and ecosystems to catalyse digital innovation differently.

BDFI became a University Research Institute in 2019 and received £100m in funding and support from Research England and our civic, business and charity partners. This includes a £29m investment from Research England's UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF).

About Mechdyne

Mechdyne Corporation is a broad-based technology partner specialising in audiovisual and information technologies (AV/IT), visualisation and software solutions, immersive virtual reality technologies, and technical support services. They serve a global client base that includes leading government laboratories, university and research centers.