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Concept&Navigation

Introduction

This document provides a simple breakdown of Fujitsu's concept of Social Digital Twin™, the world it seeks to achieve, and the characteristics of the core technologies which will be used as a means to achieve it. In addition, it provides navigation on the content and relationships of several documents that explain the sample applications and API using Social Digital Twin™ core technology, which will be published on the Fujitsu Research Portal in January 2024.

The Concept of Social Digital Twin™

A digital twin refers to the use of Internet-connected devices to acquire information from a real space and reproduce it in a cyberspace like a twin. The use of digital twins enables monitoring, simulation, and sharing/collaboration between people across remote areas.

Figure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, "What's a Digital Twin?"

In general, initiatives using digital twins are progressing particularly in the manufacturing industry, with use cases that aim to reduce costs by, for example, enabling co-design/prototyping of products in the digital space. In contrast, Fujitsu's Social Digital Twin™ aims to realize the high-level utilization of digital twins in order to improve "human society," or, in other words, to "solve social problems by utilizing the digital space," and we propose a variety of technologies for this purpose.

The main characteristic of this technology is its use of models of people and society which, through enabling technologies produced as a result of Converging Technology research and development, continue to evolve in an ongoing manner.

💡Two Points of Social Digital Twin™:

  • Uses the Human Behavior Model (Behavior Selection Model), which takes knowledge from behavioral economics to predict people's movements with high accuracy and reproduce them as digital twins.

  • Uses Digital Rehearsal™, a mechanism for rehearsing how society will respond to measures in a cyberspace, enabling users to examine the effects of formulated measures in advance and supporting consensus-building and policy implementation. in advance, and support consensus building and implementation of measures.

Two Core Technologies of Social Digital Twin™

Objectives and Expectations for General Release

We believe the technology resulting from Social Digital Twin™ R&D has the potential to be used in a variety of ways. Though provided in the form of a specific use case, we hope that publishing the technology in a shape that anyone can use will enable us to discover alternative applications that would not have been thought up by researchers alone, leading to new collaborations on various activities and the continued progression of research and development to benefit and improve society.

Mobility Use Case

As there is no single method with which we can foresee all future scenarios, R&D for Social Digital Twin™ technology is taking place in individual areas of focus. In the first release, we are providing Digital Rehearsal™ technology in the mobility-related area.

  • Users can replicate the movements of people in a specific area and predict/evaluate what happens in relation to these movements, which can vary depending on how measures are implemented.

  • Specifically, using the published sample app, users can verify:

    • When placing shared mobility (shared e-scooters) in an area where people are walking or driving

      • "Will people use the shared e-scooters?"

      • "How long will their trips now take?"

      • "How much does not using a car reduce CO2 emissions in the area?"

      • "How many shared e-scooters should be placed where for effective use?"

. . . etc., using Digital Rehearsal™.

  • The sample app can be accessed from a web browser.

    • Designed to be used by any Fujitsu Research Portal user

    • Provides sample data for users to work with

    • Permits replacement of sample data with user's own

Mobility Use Case User Documents

Document (1): Optimal Shared Mobility Deployment Demo App Technology Introduction

  • See what the demo app looks like and learn the specifics of the Social Digital Twin™ technology used there.

  • See the type of data that is provided as a sample on the demo app, as well as how it can be changed.

  • Information related to the inquiry process is also included.

Document (2): Web App Operation Manual

  • Learn how to operate the demo app from a web browser. Please refer to this manual when using the demo app.

Document (3): API Operation Manual

  • In addition to a web browser, the demo app can also be run using an API. Please refer to this manual for more information about the API.

Document (4): Data Generation Manual

  • In order to run the demo app on a map of a different city than provided, or otherwise to use different people's data or your own data, please refer to this manual.

Expected Users

  • Anyone considering the implementation and effectiveness of shared mobility

  • Anyone interested in Social Digital Twin™ or Digital Rehearsal™

  • Anyone who wants to try/experience Fujitsu Laboratories' advanced technology

  • Anyone considering a problem-solving idea related to the movement of people in a town, and who wants to assess how that idea will improve the town's future using multiple indicators

Our intentions for the use of this technology are not limited to the motivations above, and we expect it to be used widely by students, other companies, local governments, Fujitsu, and more.

User Expectations

As stated in "Objectives and Expectations for General Release," we hope the publication and use of this technology will lead to the discovery of alternative applications, as well as new collaborations on various activities and continued research and development to benefit and improve society.

Please feel free to contact us by referring to the inquiry information and examples in Document (1) "Optimal Shared Mobility Deployment Demo App Technology Introduction."

Final Note

While the Mobility Use Case is the first to be published, we are planning future updates to improve ease of use, publish new use cases in other areas such as well-being and environment, and share the technologies we are currently researching and developing for Social Digital Twin™. We hope our mission of solving social issues through Social Digital Twin™ is not only one that resonates with you, but also one you look forward to.