A ‘BRICK for brick’ digital replica of Bradford city centre has been completed and shown to the public for the first time.
The pioneering project has many potential uses ranging from allowing people to explore virtual replicas of buildings before they are built, to taking tours of the city to see what it looked like in Victorian times, check live pollution counts and many more.
Virtual Bradford, a high resolution 3D online twin of the city centre, is a collaboration between the University of Bradford and Bradford Council, with the first phase part-funded by the European Union SCORE (Smart Cities + Open Data Re-Use) project.
Professor Andrew Wilson, Chair of Archaeological and Forensic Science at the University of Bradford, said: "We are delighted that our soft launch at the National Science & Media Museum marks a milestone in the development of Virtual Bradford - an innovative approach designed as one of the world's first open digital twins aimed at democratising rich city-wide data and encouraging a multitude of use-cases.
“Having a sense of place is key to this project.”
Researchers from Visualising Heritage - a research team from the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences at the University - have spent two years collecting data, digital imagery and drone data to develop the digital twin.
The first phase, covering the city centre will be freely available to anyone and could be used for purposes such as planning, monitoring air pollution and traffic, as well as historic tours to show what the city looked like in the past.
It could be used for computer games and even virtual businesses.
Virtual Bradford was one of the projects named as part of the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize, awarded to the University for its world-leading work in archaeological technology and techniques.
The completed 3D content was previewed to the public for the first time at the National Media Museum last month, as part of the city’s Digital Strategy Launch.
Pupils from Saltaire Primary and Wycliffe CE Primary Schools took part in art days, sketching and photographing some of the historic buildings in Saltaire, as part of the People, Heritage and Place project for Phase Two of Virtual Bradford.
This next phase, which has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Place Programme, will link the digital twin of the city centre to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Saltaire via the Greenway cycle route.
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