Academician Li Deren: The metacosm and the digital twin are two different concepts

Text | Tabor.com, author | Song Xiaoyang, Editor | Shikino

Just after the Spring Festival holiday, Yuanlong Yatu, a licensed producer of ice piers, ushered in a wave of stock price surge due to the "East Olympic + Yuan Universe".

The wind of the meta-universe is too hot, and it not only blows a yuanlong yatu. Concepts related to aerospace information that are biased towards the industrial end, such as real-life three-dimensional and digital twins, have also become hot through the fire of the meta-universe, and related enterprises have continued to raise financing and stock prices. (For details, see: The rise of the industrial metacosm, the digital twin heats up |.) Year-end special)

However, the development of new concepts is often accompanied by huge bubbles. Whether it is the current "beneficiary" or the "laggard" who seems to have not yet caught up with the tide of the times, it is necessary to maintain a sufficiently calm judgment ability when the technology wave changes.

From tradition to openness, from single-handedness to cross-border integration, the aerospace information industry is already in a period of change. For practitioners in this field, the metaverse with the aura of "next-generation Internet" is tempting enough, but it is also confusing.

At the beginning of the Year of the Tiger, Tabor invited Li Deren, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to talk about his views on the digital twin and the metacosm.

Metacosms and digital twins are different concepts

With the popularity of the metaverse, the concept of digital twins has also been popular. However, Academician Li Deren believes that the two should not be confused.

"I think that the metacosm and the digital twin are two different concepts, and the former is not a higher form of the latter."

Academician Li Deren said that the concept of the digital twin itself is very clear, that is, the real feedback of the real world in cyberspace, whether it is a digital twin factory, a digital twin city or even a digital twin earth, the original intention is to restore the real world and affect real life through simulation and simulation of cyberspace, which is "responsible for the earth", and there will be no completely imagined elements such as "myths" and "games".

"Compared with the digital twin, the concept of the current hot metaverse is actually not very clear, and the term 'fusion of virtual and real' is easy to confuse the real world and virtual space."

Academician Li Deren further explained: "The data used to describe data in big data is called metadata, but it seems to be difficult to understand the universe with 'yuan'. ”

"Since the birth of mankind, there have been two spaces. One is the real space in which we live, and the other is the virtual space that extends from myths and legends, novels, movies to today's games, VR games and other human imaginations. The mapping of the former in cyberspace is summed up by digital twins, while the current metaverse seems to be more skewed toward the latter.

"For example, based on the classic story of Journey to the West, you can use three-dimensional real scenes and other technologies to present a virtual world that looks quite real, but this world does not affect the operation of the real world, but only provides people with entertainment and imagination space, in this case, even if the real three-dimensional space, vehicles, people flow and other data information are borrowed, it should still be regarded as a fictional space."

Academician Li Deren gave an example: "Just like Master Mei Lanfang plays various female roles in the theater world, but in real life, a man with his own wife and children, people need to distinguish between virtual concepts and real life in the metaverse like drama and reality." ”

Academician Li Deren said that the metacosm needs to explain the concept clearly and clarify the framework of the rules.

"While applying advanced technology, it is necessary to clarify the boundary between the virtual and the real world, to let the technology operate with sufficiently perfect rules as a guide, to let participants clearly know which characters, stories and worldviews are created, and not to let technological progress hinder the normal operation of society."

However, Academician Li Deren did not refuse to use digital technology to transform and upgrade traditional industries, but was happy to see it succeed.

"I am very supportive of using virtual and reality interaction technologies such as VR, AR, and MR to empower industries such as online games and smart cultural tourism, or to participate in simulation in various fields." For example, the use of relevant technology can allow people who visit Dunhuang murals to see the flying sky really dancing in front of their eyes, which will greatly promote the development of tourism and cultural industries and is worth trying. ”

These fields have tried the application of VR, AR and other technologies for a long time, but at that time, supporting technologies such as big data, cloud computing, AI, and 5G were not yet mature, so the attempt was not successful. Nowadays, science and technology have made overall progress, and naturally have the ability to further develop the industry, but whether to name it "meta-universe", Academician Li Deren has reservations.

Digital twins are a new height for urban construction

Compared with the metaverse that is both grand and somewhat "ethereal", the digital twin that Academician Li Deren said is "responsible for the real world" has a fairly clear mission.

"Digital twins are to use the technology of virtual and real fusion to make comprehensive observations of the physical space from factories, parks to cities in an iterative and evolutionary manner, gain insight into its development trend, and then scientifically analyze, predict, and make decisions, so as to improve the operational efficiency of entities with the control of virtual networks."

Academician Li Deren introduced that the digitization process of the city has gradually evolved with the pace of information development.

From the concept of digital space in the first information revolution in 1992-1993, the accelerated globalization of the Internet around 1998, to the gradual development of Internet of Things technology in 2006-2007, and the gradual rise of the concept of digital twin after 2015, the digitalization of cities has gradually transitioned from digital cities and smart cities to digital twin cities.

Li Deren said that the digital twin smart city has four characteristics of accurate mapping, virtual and real interaction, software definition, and intelligent feedback, which has achieved subversive innovation, is the ideal goal of the digital city, and is also a new height for the construction of smart cities, giving the city brain an important facility and basic ability to realize intelligence.

"At present, the new infrastructure being promoted is laying the foundation for industrial digitalization and digital industrialization, and facilitating the control of the whole life cycle of the production and circulation of the industry will be the main driving force for the next development of the mainland economy." The construction of a new type of smart city, emphasizing the three-dimensional integration of above ground and underground, is equivalent to viewing the city as a 'living body' and managing its whole life cycle from birth to change and development. ”

Academician Li Deren said: "Based on this model, the city can learn from itself, and the operation mode will be continuously optimized and iterated. ”

However, Academician Li Deren also reminded industry colleagues that there are still several major difficulties in the construction of digital twin cities.

First, it is necessary to consider the modeling effect and cost expenditure comprehensively. At this stage, the financial capacity cannot support the individual monotony modeling of all entities, but the mesh model can be used to automate and quickly complete the monomerization of the framework. Only relatively speaking, the latter still has room for improvement in terms of model refinement, application and integration with other modeling software.

"I personally recommend that city-level modeling be done automatically in a framework monolethic mode, and that important buildings such as city landmarks can be modeled separately." Academician Li Deren said that this view still needs to be explored by the industry.

Second, it is necessary to coordinate the security and confidentiality requirements of high-precision spatial data and the actual needs of economic development at this stage.

"At this stage, the relevant regulations have more restrictions on the open sharing of high-precision spatial data, but the intelligent network industry, including automatic driving, has considerable demand space for such data." Can we comprehensively use institutional and technical means to ensure data security while maintaining the rapid development of the mainland in the track of automobile intelligence, so as to prepare for occupying a leading position in the world economy in the future? ”

Academician Li Deren suggested: "In terms of data cloud, we can refer to the state-owned asset cloud method similar to Wuhan cloud to strengthen data control. In terms of data openness, you can also try to process data coordinates, limit the total area of spatial data open, and limit the modes that allow but do not allow replication. ”

"This is a problem that must be considered in the field of spatial information in the field of technology development to a new stage, and it needs to be discussed by all walks of life to seek the optimal solution."

Third, the mechanism of cross-departmental collaboration and sharing still needs to be further improved. From the technical integration and cross-departmental collaboration of the real-world three-dimensional city and urban information model (CIM) basic platform, to the multi-level data collection, sharing and release mechanism of various ministries, provinces, cities and counties, it is still in the process of exploration and promotion.

Academician Li Deren said that at present, Zhejiang, Shandong and other places have introduced a relatively perfect data collection and sharing mechanism, and I believe that the future institutional mechanism will accelerate the improvement and be more adapted to the digital age.

To this end, Academician Li Deren suggested: "Can the Ministry of Science and Technology take the lead in setting up key special projects to guide the gathering of forces from all aspects of the country?" ”

"For example, the meter-level trajectory tracking of people, vehicles and things in the city that I and several other academicians and experts are promoting is a new attempt at the capabilities of 'Beidou +' and '+Beidou'." We will combine the indoor navigation and positioning Xihe plan and the third-generation Beidou system application to achieve trajectory tracking and classification of people and objects on smart phones, smart bracelets or other terminals, and support normalized epidemic prevention and control and other urban applications. ”

Academician Li Deren hopes that in the new year, colleagues from all walks of life can work together to give answers to the above questions at an early date.

Space information people should open their eyes

At this stage, the construction of a real-life three-dimensional China promoted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the construction of the urban information model (CIM) infrastructure platform promoted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development are the two major driving forces in the construction of the mainland's digital twin city. Aerospace information technology is an indispensable and important part of the construction of the two.

Academician Li Deren said: "There is a lot of work that digital twins can do in the demand of the new generation of smart cities, and the relevant departments of surveying and mapping and the large surveying and mapping industry must be the pioneers and main forces of related work, because there is no spatial entity framework base to talk about urban intelligent management, which is the basis for the realization of urban digital twins." ”

The continuous improvement of top-level designs such as technical outlines and industry standards has further accelerated the construction process of large-scale projects such as real-life three-dimensional China and urban information model (CIM) basic platform.

Taking the construction of real-life three-dimensional China as an example, in terms of technical support, the localization level of software and hardware in related fields has made great progress.

"We can now implement it without relying on foreign software and hardware (real scene 3D). At the macro level of nationwide coverage, the resolution of continental satellites has gone from 5 meters to 1 meter to 0.5 meters today. Relying on aerial measurements, the resolution can reach 2 centimeters. The localization of software systems, including modeling methods, has also received strong support from the state. Academician Li Deren said proudly.

In terms of construction mode, each pilot city is allowed to conduct parallel experiments of multiple methods according to its own characteristics. "At present, several pilot cities have their own advantages, and eventually they need to summarize their experience and continuously improve the common standards." Academician Li Deren introduced.

For example, in terms of surface transportation and underground pipelines in the megacity of Shanghai, lidar is better used; Wuhan has a more prominent multi-temporal expression of the plot, and has corresponding experience in the detailed processing of different entities from macro to micro; Qingdao's lidar point cloud achievements cover key forest areas outside the city, and can also provide data support for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets while forest fire prevention and ground disaster prevention and control.

"In integrated projects like digital twin cities, aerospace technology is playing an increasingly complex role."

Academician Li Deren introduced: "Taking the Wuhan cloud project we participated in as an example, aerospace technology enterprises and institutions are not only producers, maintainers and managers of the framework basic data and spatio-temporal data base, but also participate in the acquisition and operation and maintenance of dynamic data such as the Internet of Things with other technologies, and are participants and collaborators in dynamic data applications. ”

"In the fields of storage management and visualization, aerospace technology companies also have the opportunity to play a greater role."

Academician Li Deren said that under the trend of incorporating geospatial information technology represented by sky-to-earth earth observation and Beidou satellite navigation into information infrastructure, geo-information surveying and mapping is breaking through from the traditional small circle layer to entering the broader field of "big surveying and mapping", that is, real-time intelligent services for space-space information that cover the integration of communication and navigation remote sensing, public safety services based on high-precision spatio-temporal big data, etc., and more application possibilities at sea, underwater and underground should be explored.

"Spatial information is an integral part of the information infrastructure in the new infrastructure, and it is necessary to grasp the mission of geospatial science in the new infrastructure period, and actively participate in and promote industrial digitalization and digital industrialization."

"Enterprises in the field should open their minds, look at this change with a more open eye, strive to innovate, and make a difference." Academician Li Deren said: "Sometimes you only need to take a step forward to get through the difficulties in front of you. ”

"Aerospace technology companies and artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other industries, is a competitive relationship. There is both the basis and motivation for cooperation, and the possibility of competition, and science and technology are constantly making progress in the process of such competition and cooperation. ”