Cite as: Kamel Boulos MN. VRGIS and big data for smarter, healthier cities (within the Invited Session on 'Digital technologies and the impact in biometry', Chair: R Assunção, Discussant: A Charpentie, Presenters: MN Kamel Boulos, J Mills Flemming, G Câmara). XXIXth International Biometric Conference, Barcelona International Convention Centre, Barcelona, Spain, 10 July 2018. ----------------------- Abstract: ----------------------- The latest generation of virtual and mixed reality hardware has rekindled interest in VRGIS (Virtual Reality GIS) and ARGIS (Augmented Reality GIS) applications in health, and opened up new and exciting opportunities and possibilities for using these technologies in the personal and public health arenas (Kamel Boulos et al., 2017). This presentation will offer a snapshot of some of the most remarkable VRGIS and ARGIS solutions that rely on big data, including real-time data, to deliver the vision of smart healthy cities (Kamel Boulos et al., 2015). 1. Kamel Boulos et al. From urban planning and emergency training to Pokémon Go: applications of virtual reality GIS (VRGIS) and augmented reality GIS (ARGIS) in personal, public and environmental health. Int J Health Geogr. 2017, 16:7. DOI: 10.1186/s12942-017-0081-0 2. Kamel Boulos et al. 'Social, innovative and smart cities are happy and resilient': insights from the WHO EURO 2014 International Healthy Cities Conference. Int J Health Geogr. 2015, 14:3. DOI: 10.1186/1476-072X-14-3

1. VRGIS and big data for
smarter, healthier cities
Invited Speaker: Prof. Maged N. Kamel Boulos, MBBCh, PhD, SMIEEE
mnkboulos@ieee.org
Invited Session:

2. Agenda
• VRGIS (Virtual Reality GIS) for smarter, healthier cities
and regions
• IoT (Internet of Things) big data for VRGIS and ARGIS
(Augmented Reality GIS)
• VRGIS applications for better urban and environmental
health planning
• 3D Shenzhen City (China) WebVRGIS platform
• ESRI CityEngine mobile VRGIS
• ARGIS for smarter, healthier cities and regions
• Google Visual Positioning System (VPS) can make walking
navigation easier in Maps
• ARGIS aids a city water utility
• An augmented crisis map for navigating a natural disaster
• CleanApp@AR and OpenLitterMap.com
• Conclusions and future directions

3. VRGIS and ARGIS for smart cities and regions
The latest generation of virtual and mixed reality hardware has rekindled
interest in VRGIS (Virtual Reality GIS) and ARGIS (Augmented Reality GIS)
applications in health, and opened up new and exciting opportunities and
possibilities for using these technologies in the environmental and public
health arenas.

4. VRGIS and ARGIS for smart cities and regions
VRGIS and ARGIS solutions rely on, and consume, big data, including IoT real-
time data, to deliver the vision of smart healthy cities and regions.
Harnessing the technology's virtual and augmented reality features and
powerful spatio-temporal decision support affordances, users can visually
and immersively interrogate relevant GIS databases, including databases that
are continuously updated in real time with IoT data from connected citywide
sensors, e.g., for environmental health monitoring/surveillance and planning
(using real-time and historical data from citywide sensors for air quality,
temperature, noise levels, artificial light pollution, etc.).
(IoT = Internet of Things/Connected Objects and Sensors.)
• Kamel Boulos MN, et al. 'Social, innovative and smart cities are happy and resilient': insights from the WHO
EURO 2014 International Healthy Cities Conference. Int J Health Geogr. 2015, 14:3

5. • https://www.ge.com/reports/why-are-new-yorkers-
hugging-street-lamps/
• https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/smart-lamp-posts-
gun-shots_uk_58b6c0c7e4b0780bac2eca68
• Kamel Boulos MN, Al-Shorbaji N. On the Internet of Things,
smart cities and the WHO Healthy Cities. Int J Health Geogr.
2014, 13:10
IoT big data
^ Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ29Od8nY5I

6. VRGIS for smart cities and regions
VRGIS has been applied to population management, traffic (congestion)
prediction and mitigation, urban resource allocation, monitoring of water
resources, environmental protection, disaster prevention, early warning
systems and rescue planning operations.
Thanks to VRGIS' enhanced capacity to visualise 3D details, users immersed in
the virtual environment can test different possibilities, scenarios and
candidate locations for a given task or a new city development plan, to decide
on the best course of action to take. Planners of new buildings or other
facilities can have a comprehensive view of their new development location
from various perspectives, including surrounding and nearby buildings. Users,
such as city managers, can see the actual landscape of streets, buildings and
vehicles, and assess the number of buildings, congestion conditions and light
exposure within the vicinity.

7. VRGIS for smart cities
Screenshots of a VRGIS-enabled
application suite for smart cities.
A. Urban building planning;
B. Subway route tracking;
C. Underground pipeline
management; D. Hydrological
monitoring; E. Virtual
community; F. Traffic monitoring.
• Kamel Boulos MN, Lv Z, et al. From
urban planning and emergency training
to Pokémon Go: applications of virtual
reality GIS (VRGIS) and augmented
reality GIS (ARGIS) in personal, public
and environmental health. Int J Health
Geogr. 2017, 16:7
• Lv Z, et al. Virtual Reality Smart City
Based on WebVRGIS. IEEE Internet of
Things Journal. 2016, 3(6):1015-1024

8. 3D Shenzhen City (China) Web platform
A 3D global browser loads multiple types of
data from the city, such as 3D building model
data, residents' information and real-time and
historical traffic data, to enable comprehensive
3D visualisation and analysis of the city's
information.
• Lv Z, et al. Managing Big City Information Based on
WebVRGIS. IEEE Access. 2016, 4:407-415

9. ESRI CityEngine mobile VRGIS
The ArcGIS 360 VR app allows users to quickly immerse themselves into
3D city models by teleporting to static viewpoints and comparing
different urban design scenarios.
These VR experiences can be easily created with CityEngine, and are
hosted on ArcGIS Online, the cloud platform of ESRI.
Rather than relying on high-performance-graphics computers and
cumbersome wired VR accessories, a simple smartphone paired with
an affordable wireless headset are all that is required to be
immersed in a 360 VR experience.
The app is available for the Samsung Gear VR headset /
Oculus platform.
• http://www.esri.com/software/cityengine
• https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/city-engine/3d-gis/cityengine-unveils-
mobile-virtual-reality-solution/

10. CityEngine mobile VRGIS (video provided by ESRI)
< Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=lcLEOGO1JPE

11. Google is using AR to make walking navigation
easier in Maps
• https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201
8/05/google-maps-unveils-its-first-
ever-augmented-reality-interface/
Augmented Reality GIS for smart
navigation

12. Google is using AR to make walking navigation
easier in Maps
• https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/google-maps-unveils-its-first-ever-augmented-reality-interface/
GPS alone can’t achieve this. Google's Visual Positioning System (VPS) estimates
precise positioning and orientation based on images gathered by a user's smart-
phone.
Right: A visual representation of Google's VPS system
as perceived by a smartphone camera >

13. ARGIS aids a New Jersey water utility (example provided by ESRI)
• https://community.esri.com/videos/4061-augmented-reality-aids-a-new-jersey-water-utility
Using mixed reality headsets to guide fieldworkers in locating underground utilities
< Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=86UQ0i5MPOA

14. An augmented crisis map for navigating a natural disaster
Can be combined with
blockchain technology
(blockchain-enabled AR) in
powerful new crisis
mapping and recovery
scenarios. See:
• Kamel Boulos MN, Wilson T,
Clauson K. Geospatial blockchain:
promises, challenges and
scenarios in health/care. Int J
Health Geogr. 2018, 17:25
• https://medium.com/mimir-
blockchain/how-augmented-
reality-can-change-how-we-
navigate-a-natural-disaster-
d7fbde0d735b
• https://irevolutions.org/2011/09/
26/augmented-reality-crisis-
mapping/ ^ Geo-tagged AR objects superimposed onto the real world
Can be crowdsourced, blockchain-validated (and rewarded)

15. CleanApp in an Augmented Reality (AR) embodiment >>>
• https://medium.com/@cleanapp/welcome-to-the-future-of-trashtech-
cleantech-civictech-219a1e3ce3ef
• https://cleanapp.io/cleanappar/
OpenLitterMap.com offers Ethereum-based littercoin reward
tokens for doing CleanApp activity
• http://blogs.springeropen.com/springeropen/2018/07/04/litter-
mapping-is-a-new-field-of-citizen-science-and-blockchain-rewards-offer-
a-whole-new-paradigm/
• OpenLitterMap.com – Open Data on Plastic Pollution with Blockchain
Rewards (Littercoin) https://doi.org/10.1186/s40965-018-0050-y

16. Conclusions and future directions
The rapid developments in computer technology are opening up new application
frontiers for VRGIS and ARGIS in the domains of public and environmental health in
the context of smart cities and regions.
IoT-driven smart cities benefit the most from the real-time, effective and highly
integrated 3D visualisation of big (geo)data via VRGIS. VRGIS can assist in the analysis
of the urban fabric and other related attributes, providing auxiliary methods for urban
and environmental planning and design. The underpinning databases can be updated
with 3D data at any time (even in real time), so as to reflect new urban plans and
regional changes in a timely manner (or as they unfold in real time) via VRGIS, thus
broadening the technology's application prospects.
When properly conceived and implemented, VRGIS, ARGIS and related technologies
can serve as powerful enablers of healthier, safer and more enjoyable living for
individuals and communities, e.g., by supporting people's daily activities such as
walking and exercising around a big city.

17. Conclusions and future directions
Looking at the future, there are virtually no limits to the possibilities of VRGIS and
ARGIS applications in health and medicine. For example, GIS has traditionally been
applied to features on the surface of the Earth ('geo'), but it is also possible to apply
the technology to anatomical features at the scale of the human body. In this
respect, one may consider Royal Philips' augmented-reality surgical navigation
technology for image-guided spine, cranial and trauma surgery as an advanced and
highly specialised form of ARGIS / MRGIS (Mixed Reality GIS).
• https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/news/archive/standard/news/press/2017/20170112-philips-announces-new-
augmented-reality-surgical-navigation-technology-designed-for-image-guided-spine-cranial-and-trauma-surgery.html
• http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0000000000001830