Project Details
Here East is an innovation and technology campus situated in East London with a rich story to tell about its history, impact and vision for the future. To befit their positioning, they commissioned a Digital Twin of the campus to use as a communication aid when delivering talks and presentations about the campus and become a platform for remote viewing where travel was impractical.
The Brief
The Here East campus is home to some of the most pioneering academic institutions developing the future talent for the creative Industries, teaching digital animation, game design, immersive technology, AI and deep tech, as well as exploration of the Metaverse. It was the perfect opportunity to collaborate with SpaceForm and Squint/Opera to create this Digital Twin to show off the campus in real-time immersive 3D, as well as develop a narrative to tell the backstory of Here East as part of the twin – how it came to be, who calls it home, and the impact it’s having on the local and national economy.
Our Response
The very latest game engine technology from Epic – Unreal Engine 5 – to recreate the campus in fine detail and allow visitors to explore on their own terms or be guided through a series of features that illustrate their desired narrative. The campus’s success at home has attracted plenty of overseas interest. One of the reasons Here East wanted to experiment with digital twins was our platform’s unique ability to host virtual immersive meetings ‘inside’ the model and hence be able to conduct remote viewing and tours.
The capability of Spaceform to create a genuinely immersive environment for meetings enables it to present every aspect of a project to potential tenants, investors, and communities in real-time. This, in turn, accelerates decision-making processes, as it provides a level of detail beyond what traditional communication tools can offer.
What next?
The future Here of East is further growth. Having successfully operated for over a decade, it has leased 94% of its one-million-square-foot site. The site’s virtual presence enhances opportunities for further expansion, both in the UK and internationally. The Twin and its unique communication features allow for the campus to be virtually recreated anywhere in the world, offering a practical way to assess its functionality in different territories. Consequently, Here East is excellently positioned for future endeavours.
“We are delighted to have partnered with SpaceForm to take this transformative step and develop our virtual twin. The ability to replicate our vibrant campus in a virtual forum and show people from all over the world our site, whilst having real-time conversations with them, is really unique.” – Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East.
