Alstom's Virtual World - An immersive and interactive showcase for Alstom products and solutions.

A custom-made and scalable showroom

AT THIS YEAR’S INNOTRANS 2022, ALSTOM UNVEILED ITS NEW INNOVATIVE PLATFORM
TO SHOWCASE ITS PRODUCTS IN THEIR WORKING ENVIRONMENTS.

Objectives of this Virtual World

  • The various objectives of “Alstom’s Virtual Showroom” quickly evolved as soon as we saw the
    potential of the app we produced using Unreal Engine 5.
  • Digitize Alstom’s portfolio of solutions and products (trains, metros, streetcars), standardize them and present them together seamlessly in a single space.
  • Bring them to life in context, from the viewpoint of their clients (operators, sponsors, etc.)
  • Provide real-time interactive simulations of their solutions and products in operation.
    Present their digital fleet and traffic management solutions via interactive simulations.
    Provide information at different levels of technical complexity.
  • Create a space to discover their products from a macro and micro perspective, in a realistic and
    animated environment in real time.
  • Creating a device that allows Alstom to produce content at a reasonable cost.
    Stand content standardization for the InnoTrans 2022 trade show

The challenges of this immersive world

7 months to complete the project!

We custom-built a comprehensive 4km² virtual world for Alstom, capable of showcasing its products (trains and digital solutions) and bringing them to life in operational contexts.

Our main challenge was both the size of the environment we had to create and the data complexity
of each product that we had to process (13 trains). To give an example, we created, in UE5, a full
library of materials for all the trains.

The second challenge was to make these products function smoothly in real time within their
respective environments.
We worked hand in hand with Alstom to take on these challenges.

SoWhen? put in place the necessary tools:

  • Production Management (parallel team tasks)
  • City construction optimization
  • City animation optimization (artificial intelligence for vehicle movement and MetaHumans…)

We built the entire interactive virtual city in Unreal Engine 5, starting with the early access version released by EPIC. As the project progressed, we were able to put UE5 to the test and evolve some of the project’s features following each update of the software.

Our mission

Creating Alstom’s Virtual Showroom, an interactive virtual city in the form of an immersive Alstom Metaverse which can evolve and be modified over time, was one of SoWhen?’s most challenging missions to date.
This application represents Alstom’s dynamic and lively brand image, containing their flagship
products across all of their areas of activity.
Alstom’s various audiences (engineers, media, governments…) can discover Alstom products at
different levels of technical complexity adapted to the user.

The virtual showroom is made up of “different elements” that can either be activated according to
what the public wants to explore or according to what Alstom wants to showcase. These elements
will continue to be updated over time and be completed when needed.
Here are some examples:

  • A macro view that allows you to roam freely over a fully animated city and stop at points of interest.
  • All the trains can be observed both up close and while they are moving within their environments.
  • Each innovation is explained in detail and the user is given the freedom to choose the technical complexity of the information provided.
  • An entire section is dedicated to the components (technical elements) of the trains which are
    cross-sectioned thanks to immersive micro viewpoints.

The simulator offers multiple fleet management scenarios to illustrate the communication systems
between the trains and the control center. For example: train management protocols when a fire
breaks out in a station, slowing down trains, automatic safety distance management…

OPTIMIZING ALSTOM'S VIRTUAL WORLD

This showroom has allowed Alstom to standardize all of their digital  resources and bring them to life.
Alstom’s design department have used the showroom to shoot videos and take pictures of the products in their environments along with chosen interactive features. Numerous other tools have already been developed for the flagship application and Alstom can now use all of this dynamic
material for its marketing, communication and training requirements.
Our team also produced no less than 6 projects and 33 videos for InnoTrans 2022, the contents of which were taken from the flagship application “Alstom’s Virtual Showroom”.

VIEW AN EXTRACT OF ALSTOM'S VIRTUAL WORLD

In October 2022, SoWhen? was chosen by Unreal Engine to present Alstom's virtual world project at the Unreal Fest in New Orleans! Below, you can watch the entire conference, which shows how we succeeded in achieving this challenge!

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