Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Unity have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to commercialise YVR’s digital twin model for the global aviation industry.
YVR’s digital twin, powered by Unity, is the first major product to be produced by YVR’s Innovation Hub, which was launched in 2021.
The tool has been designed to optimise airport operations and planning by collating data from a range of sources, including historical and real-time data from live sensors.
The digital twin then strategically presents key information in 2D and 3D formats, enabling the airport to make data-driven decisions.
Lynette DuJohn, VP of Innovation and CIO at Vancouver Airport Authority, said:From the beginning, YVR’s Digital Twin has been centred around our people – employees, passengers and the community. In bringing our Digital Twin to the global aviation market, we look forward to working with other airports, and industry partners, to positively transform the way they serve their passengers through the possibilities this exciting technology offers.
The digital twin platform has already addressed several operational challenges at YVR in response to changing aviation and travel realities.
For example, during the 2022 peak summer travel season, YVR’s Guest Experience Team used the digital twin to minimise passenger congestion at security checkpoints.
In addition, to support decarbonisation goals, YVR and Unity are currently working with carrier partners to incorporate a greenhouse gas calculator that monitors and analyses more efficient aircraft movements in order to reduce airside emissions.
Ryan Peterson, VP, Accelerate Solutions, at Unity, said:I am very excited about Unity and YVR’s joint go-to-market plan for an airport Digital Twin platform. The last three years have seen a tremendous amount of collaboration, boldness and vision from both organisations, and I believe this Digital Twin platform can provide incredible value to airports around the world. Accelerating aviation’s digital transformation will have a massive, positive impact on our society, with the goal of driving efficiencies in the transport of people and goods.
