TECHNOLOGY

“The Virtual Bradford Project will provide a highly accurate and realistic digital model which will assist decision makers to make the right planning and development calls in and around Bradford.”

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport

Creating Bradford’s digital twin

Imagine wandering around virtual replicas of buildings before they are built. Or exploring a city as it would have looked in Victorian times. These are just two of the many possible uses for Virtual Bradford, a ‘brick for brick’ digital replica of the city centre and its surrounding areas. Professor Andrew Wilson, Chair of Archaeological and Forensic Science at the University of Bradford, said: “Virtual Bradford, a collaboration between the University and Bradford Metropolitan District Council, is one of the world’s first open digital twins. It has taken two years to create the 3D twin of the city centre and now work has begun extending it via the Greenway cycle path to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Saltaire. “The first phase of Virtual Bradford is available now in beta version at whilst we make ongoing improvements." As well as illustrating planning applications and creating historic tours, Virtual Bradford - developed from the University's expertise in 'Visualising Heritage' - could be used for anything from monitoring air pollution and traffic to computer games and even virtual businesses. Tom Sparrow, Co-Investigator and Senior Scientist at the University of Bradford, said: “To create the digital twin, we used 3D laser scanners to capture imagery from street level which was then blended with more than 10,000 aerial images taken by drone.” Phase One has been part-funded by the European Union, while Phase Two has benefited from funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Place Programme. Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “The Virtual Bradford Project will provide a highly accurate and realistic digital model which will assist decision makers to make the right planning and development calls in and around Bradford. “It will be a powerful tool and we are looking forward to making use of it to deliver continued improvements to our city.”