KAUST Spin-Off · City-Scale Digital Twins

We Bring Cities to Life

City-scale digital twins that don't just visualize — they simulate, predict, and control. From citizen behavior to energy grids to emergency response.

About Cities:OS

Game Engine Power. Engineering Rigor.

Cities:OS is a KAUST spin-off that pioneered a radical approach: take the world's most advanced city-building game engines and convert them into an enterprise-grade simulation platform. The result is a digital twin that combines the visual fidelity of gaming with the rigor of physics-based engineering.

Our platform doesn't stop at observation. Through City-in-the-Loop architecture, real-world IoT sensors feed directly into the live simulation while distributed edge controllers push optimized decisions back — creating a continuous feedback loop between the physical city and its digital counterpart.

From analytics and AI to predictive control — one platform, city scale.

25,000+
km² simulated
50,000+
simultaneous agents
99%
AI detection accuracy
12
regions modeled
Platform

The Engine Behind the Twin

Our digital twins are not renderings — they are simulation environments backed by physics, populated by intelligent agents, and powered by game engine technology.

01

Agent-Based Simulation

Every citizen is an agent with education, age, wealth, health, and employment attributes — creating realistic emergent urban behavior at city scale.

02

Physics Integration

Modular physics engines plug into the simulation via the FMI standard — compatible with 100+ modeling tools. Our City-in-the-Loop architecture connects real-world IoT sensors and physics solvers directly into the live twin.

03

AI & Computer Vision

Deep learning pipelines for fault detection, anomaly recognition, and real-time monitoring — deployed at scale with IoT edge computing.

04

3D Capture & Immersive Delivery

On-site LiDAR scanning and photogrammetry reconstructed into Unreal Engine 5 — delivered on desktop, VR headsets, touch tables, and web via Pixel Streaming.

Solutions

Five Dimensions of Urban Intelligence

Integrated applications that cover mobility, resilience, sustainability, autonomous control, and airspace management.

Mobility

MAHMAL

AI-driven transport simulation with behavioral population models. Evaluate traffic flow, public transit, and CO₂ emissions per trip — validated against real-world data with peer-reviewed accuracy.

  • Traffic optimization
  • Transit planning
  • Emissions modeling

Preparedness

AKNAN

Physics-based disaster simulation and evacuation planning. Model multi-hazard scenarios, optimize evacuation routes, and predict population behavior under emergency conditions.

  • Evacuation modeling
  • Multi-hazard sim
  • Route optimization

Sustainability

IDAMA

City-scale sustainability reporting aligned with UN SDGs. Map electricity consumption, calculate CO₂ footprints across transport and buildings, and benchmark regions against validated methodologies.

  • Energy heat maps
  • CO₂ footprint
  • SDG alignment

Predictive Control

PSC

Closed-loop model predictive control where the digital twin anticipates and optimizes city systems in real time. Distributed IoT edge controllers execute decisions autonomously with encrypted mesh communication and fault-tolerant architecture.

  • Model predictive control
  • IoT edge mesh
  • Autonomous optimization

Drone Airspace

3D UTM

Volumetric airspace management for urban drone operations. 3D geofencing, detect-and-avoid collision prevention, signal strength monitoring, and optimal route planning that accounts for terrain, buildings, and airspace restrictions.

  • 3D geofencing
  • Collision avoidance
  • 3D route planning
Case Studies

Proven at Scale

From territory-scale energy grids to heritage site preservation — our digital twins solve real infrastructure challenges.

Acacia Tower
Moon Tower

Generative tower designs placed on a geo-accurate terrain replica — drag to compare design variants

Original tower designs by Choi+Shine Architects

Territory-Scale Power Grid

25,000+ km² · Greenfield Development

Territory-Scale Power Grid

Complete electrical grid digital twin — transmission lines, solar farms, wind turbines, substations — all generated from GIS data and projected onto real terrain. Side-by-side scenario comparison for overhead vs. underground cabling with a year-by-year construction timeline.

GIS Pipeline Scenario Comparison Pixel Streaming
Heritage Site Immersive Experience

Landmark Complex · Interior & Exterior

Heritage Site Immersive Experience

Full-scale LiDAR capture and photorealistic reconstruction of a world-renowned heritage site. Delivered as an interactive Unreal Engine 5 experience on desktop, VR, and touch tables — with 50,000+ agent crowd simulation and emergency evacuation modeling.

LiDAR Scanning Crowd Simulation VR Experience
Campus Digital Twin & Mobility

University Campus · 10,000 Inhabitants

Campus Digital Twin & Mobility

Full campus replica with agent-based population model, validated transport simulation, underground infrastructure mapping, and scenario comparison for transit alternatives — tram vs. bus line impact analysis with real consumption data.

Agent Simulation IEEE Validated Transit Planning

Photorealistic Capture · In-Browser Tours

Step Inside Any Space

We turn 3D Gaussian Splat captures into interactive web tours — complete with embedded video screens that bring lab equipment to life, and dynamic A* pathfinding that walks visitors smoothly between points of interest.

  • Photoreal capture. Real lighting, real materials, real geometry — no manual modeling, no texture cleanup.
  • In-scene video screens. Equipment that explains itself — embed product demos, training clips, or live feeds directly inside the tour.
  • Dynamic A* pathfinding. Click any point of interest and the camera walks there — no jump-cuts, no teleporting.
  • Runs anywhere. Pure WebGL — desktop, tablet, or phone. No app install, no plugin, no headset required.
3D Gaussian Splatting In-Scene Video A* Pathfinding WebGL
Photoreal
Flow Field

Crowd Safety · Capacity Planning · Evacuation

See the Crowd Before It Arrives

Where will people pile up? Where do exits clog? Does your evacuation plan actually work?

Open a link in your browser and watch thousands of virtual people move through a 3D scan of your real space — your stadium, your station, your mosque, your mall. See bottlenecks form before anyone gets hurt. Test what happens if you close a corridor, add a sign, or move an exit.

  • Spot trouble before it happens. See where queues spill back and where corridors choke — in your real building, with the real crowd you expect.
  • Test your evacuation plan. Run the worst-case drill on a screen, not on the day it matters.
  • Compare layouts side by side. Two floor plans, two crowd flows — pick the one that actually breathes.
  • Just a link. No app to install, no GPU farm to rent, no engineer needed. Your safety lead, your architect, and your operations crew open the same URL on a phone.
Crowd Safety Evacuation Planning Capacity Testing Just a Link

Virtual Commissioning · Operator Training · PLC Validation

Drive the Machine Before It Arrives

Your new CNC arrives in eight weeks. Your operators need training in two. Your PLC team needs to debug the program before the install window closes.

Drop the machine into a 3D scan of your real factory — the actual aisles, the actual columns, the actual fork-lift paths. Drive it. Crash it. Re-program it. Train your operators on it. All before the truck pulls up.

  • Pre-commission your PLCs. Debug the program against a moving virtual machine, not a powered-up real one.
  • Train operators before delivery. They walk in on day one already familiar with the controls.
  • Catch install collisions early. The machine sits where it will actually sit, not on a CAD island.
  • Just a link. Your machine builder, your PLC team, your operator, your customer all open the same URL.
Virtual Commissioning Operator Training Industrial Twin Just a Link
Solar panel — drone RGB photography
Solar panel — drone infrared thermal imaging showing fault detection
RGB
Thermal

100,000+ Modules · 4M Images Analyzed

Solar Farm AI Monitoring

Deep learning fault detection for large-scale PV plants using drone-based aerial imaging. RGB and infrared thermal captures are analyzed by our AI pipeline — ResNet-50 and Mask R-CNN models achieve 99% anomaly detection accuracy, targeting a 100x cost reduction in operations and maintenance through Hardware-in-the-Loop physics integration.

Deep Learning Drone Imaging Thermal Analysis Hardware-in-the-Loop

Trusted by industry leaders and research institutions

KAUST
NEOM
ENOWA
ACWA Power

Get Started

Ready to Build Your City's Digital Twin?

Whether you need to simulate a transport network, monitor a solar farm, or control a city grid in real time — let's talk.

Houston, TX

11111 Richmond Ave, Ste 242

Houston, Texas 77082

+1.713.370.0422

KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Research & Technology Park

P.O. Box 4700, 23955-6900

+966.544.700.306