Background
The DesCartes (Decision-making in Critical Urban Systems) program is a Franco-Singaporean research initiative coordinated by CNRS and funded by Singapore's National Research Foundation under the CREATE program. Launched in late 2021 with a five-year, €35 million budget, it aims to develop hybrid artificial intelligence for smart city decision-making by combining physics-based simulation models with data-driven machine learning.
Immersion joined the program as the HMI (Human Machine Interface) expert, responsible for building augmented reality experiences that make hybrid AI outputs accessible and actionable for decision-makers.
The XR Deployment
Immersion developed an AR digital twin of the Port of Singapore's berthing zone. The system draws on data from field sensors and AI-driven physical simulations to visualize wind, temperature, and pollution levels in real time within a 3D city model, allowing operators to understand and anticipate the consequences of pollution incidents before they escalate.
The experience runs inside Immersion's Shariiing collaborative XR platform, enabling multiple users to share the same immersive session simultaneously. Participants can overlay supplementary information layers including maps, procedures, and photographs, and retain a decision log for post-incident debriefing.
Environmental Context
The Port of Singapore, one of the world's busiest maritime hubs, faces persistent air quality challenges from ship emissions and surrounding industrial activity. High levels of fine particles and nitrogen oxides are regularly recorded. Singapore has committed to banning internal combustion engine vessels by 2030 and is encouraging cleaner fuels including hydrogen and biodiesel. The prototype supports rapid, evidence-based response to transient pollution events in the interim period.
Scope and Research Context
The port use case extends earlier Immersion experiments in drone flight simulation over urban environments. The DesCartes program covers a broader range of smart city challenges, including urban mobility, energy management, and infrastructure planning in support of Singapore's Smart Nation initiative.
