Civic Digital Twin / WebXR — 2025
Project by Prof. Ana Herruzo — ASU Mediated Experiences Lab
01- No app, no headset required
Accessible from any mobile browser — designed for real public use, not controlled exhibition environments.
02- 8M+ data points per month
Hyperlocal sensing via the Ambient Weather Network delivers live heat, air quality, wind, and humidity to the platform.
03- Community-authored cultural memory
Phase 2 lets residents embed multilingual stories tied to migration, care, work, heat, water, and home directly into the digital twin.
Built in collaboration with the City of Mesa, Ambient Weather Network, and Amazon Web Services.
04- Municipal & industry partnerships
OVERVIEW
Sentient XR is a browser-based civic XR framework developed at ASU's MEDIAtedX Research Lab by Professor Ana Herruzo. It transforms digital twins into participatory public infrastructure — combining real-time environmental data with community-authored cultural memory into a single spatial interface accessible from any mobile browser.
Unlike traditional digital twins built for technical experts, Sentient XR is designed for everyday civic participation. Environmental conditions and lived human experience coexist in the same spatial layer, making climate data legible and cultural knowledge visible — at city scale, in real time.
I joined the project as Research Assistant, contributing to the digital twin construction, visual systems, particle effects, and the creative direction for the cultural heritage layer.
As Research Assistant on Sentient XR, my work spanned the technical and creative sides of the platform.
I was responsible for building the digital twin itself — researching and selecting the optimal WebXR stack, creating the 3D model of the city, and developing the visual and particle systems that make live data readable as a spatial experience.
I also led the creative direction for the cultural heritage layer — defining the visual language that would carry community stories within the digital twin's spatial environment.
WebXR system research & selection
Evaluated and selected the optimal WebXR framework (Needle Engine) for browser-based deployment at civic scale.
Digital twin construction
Built the 3D model of Mesa in Blender and Unity — the spatial foundation the entire platform runs on.
Visual & particle systems
Designed and implemented the real-time visual systems and particle effects that translate live sensor data into spatial, readable experience.
Cultural heritage creative direction
Developed the visual language and creative framework for how community stories are embedded and experienced within the digital twin.
ORE THEMES
Dynamic facade projections on Mesa City Hall and ASU's MIX Center, driven by live environmental sensor data. Architecture reimagined as a responsive, living canvas for ecological storytelling.
Residents contribute multilingual stories tied to migration, care, work, and home — embedded directly into the digital twin as spatial threads that persist over time.
The platform becomes a spatial archive of intangible cultural heritage — preserving lived human memory within a live environmental system at city scale.
DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1 - LIVE
In partnership with the City of Mesa, Ambient Weather Network, and AWS — a browser-based XR climate layer powered by hyperlocal sensing. Residents access real-time heat, air quality, wind, and humidity directly from their phones.
PHASE 2 - IN DEVELOPMENT
Expands the platform with community-authored storytelling. Residents contribute consent-based, multilingual stories embedded spatially into the digital twin — deployed across libraries, community centers, transit hubs, and cultural institutions.
