In simple terms, Prof. Emir defined the metaverse as a perfect blend of physical, augmented, and virtual reality. Metaverse also implies a social media in the form of an online 3D virtual world. Similar to other virtual worlds, metaverse neither acknowledge time nor distance barrier. Everybody can connect and interact with each other in the virtual metaverse world, wherever and whenever.

A derivative project of the metaverse witnessing many interests at the present is the digital twin. A digital twin is a real-world object imitation that becomes rematerialized in its virtual form. The components that form a digital twin consist of a physical ware and sensor, recognition system, scenario, user interaction, and technical methods. The existence of a digital twin allows the integration process of the real condition and the computer system through a feedback sequence. The physical object and its virtual twin are connected through the data sensor, which will be processed on cloud computing and central database.

“Digital twin is a method of duplicating the real world on the digital one. The application of digital twin is useful for lecturing, environment modeling, seminar, even military,” added Prof. Emir.

ITB, as an institution that encourages latest technological innovations and developments, has trialed the implementation of digital twin through recreating a metaverse version of the ITB campus. The endeavor is also another breakthrough for ITB, being the first existing Indonesian university in the metaverse. ITB’s metaverse campus will become a virtual campus with an AAA graphics, developed using Unreal Engine. The core multidisciplinary team who were directly involved in the ITB digital twin project development includes:
- Prof. Ir. Emir Mauludi Husni, M.Sc., Ph.D. (SEEI)
- Dr. Deni Suwardhi (FEST)
- Deny Willy Junaidy, Ph.D. (FAD)
- Fauzan Alfi Agirahman (SAPPD)

Prof. Emir expressed further, “In addition to the heritage we transformed into a digital twin, we have also developed creative contents including students’ designs of how ITB would look like in the future, inside the metaverse world.”

The creation of the ITB metaverse building utilized a LiDAR 3D scanner, whereas its surrounding environments were reproduced with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). ITB’s construction in the virtual world also considered the foundational structure from a macro perspective, such as real world infrastructure, interaction, and ecosystem. The infrastructure layer consists of operational basic needs in the virtual world, including communication, computation, blockchain, and storage. With the presence of this metaverse campus, users can experience their existence physically in the non-physical world of virtual education. “The metaverse here contains researches of students and professors, as well as commercial creative contents, so basically everything is already there in the ITB metaverse version.” teased Prof. Emir at the end of the lecture session.

Reporter: Hanifa Juliana (Urban and Regional Planning, 2020)
Translator: Firzana Aisya (Bioengineering, 2021)