The goal of the DIGIPHY project is to research and design technologies that enable immersive and intuitive eXtended Reality (XR) inter-personal communication and interaction, as well as the remote presence and interaction of persons and objects in the visual representation of a dynamically updated digital twin (DT), spatially and temporally synchronized with a physical smart space (equipped with sensors and actuators). Prototype XR-applications will be developed for two case studies, to be tested and validated in a 5G network in the laboratory prototype. In addition to new knowledge and technological prototypes, the project will result in publications, industrial partners’ product innovations, collaboration between industrial and academic partners through future projects and extending this collaboration through internationalization.

Research objectives/challenges (C) of the project:

C1) Research and design methods for synchronizing the digital twin with the physical world, utilizing stationary and mobile sensors, and refreshing the visual representation of the digital twin in (near) real-time

C2) Research methods of intuitive digital-physical interaction and establish criteria for assessing their Quality of Experience (QoE), with an emphasis on immersion and remote presence

C3) Research integration mechanisms and network aspects of data transmission between the physical and digital worlds, as well as efficient distributed processing at the network edge

C4) Validate DIGIPHY technologies by using lab prototypes for two case studies in a 5G environment (TRL 4)

C5) Ensure that ethical principles and privacy rules are built into the technology design