Seminar: Using AI, AR and VR to generate and visualize 3D City Models and applications concerning the impact of the built environment on urban climate

Today’s society’s problems require quick and effective solutions. The expansion of urban agglomerations is a well-known problem and rapid population growth has a strong impact on the environment. All this has led to the need to develop better methods of managing resources and emergency situations in urban areas. Such methods can be developed based on 3D models of cities, generated from quality geospatial data. A purpose of this study, materialized in a Doctoral Thesis, was to obtain the 3D models of buildings through an optimal workflow and also to visualize these models, in order to increase the efficiency of their use. To process the geospatial data required to obtain the 3D models of the buildings, AI technology was used and for the visualisation of the models, AR and VR technologies were tested.

Such 3D models can be transferred to CFD numerical simulation software, such as ENVI-met, to analyse how the existing urban setup and any modifications to it are expected to influence the local thermal environment under specific meteorological boundary conditions. Moreover, these 3D models have various other applications that can be employed to assess numerous other aspects of the urban environment. These aspects, which can relate to many concerns, from the urban morphology and functions to material and surface properties, triggering a specific thermal environment for humans, are comprehensively explored and discussed in the second Doctoral Thesis, which is briefly presented in the latter part of this seminar.

Overall, this integration of 3D modelling and CFD simulation offers valuable insights into urban planning and environmental impact assessments, providing a robust framework for informed decision-making in urban development.