UTM City Dubai 2022: Visualizing the future

How should unmanned traffic operate in large cities? With the help of WATCHOUT, the UTM City Dubai project demonstrated drone-based delivery concepts and traffic for visitors at EXPO2020 Dubai.

The UTM City Dubai project explores unmanned traffic management in Dubai and is managed by Linköping University in close collaboration with the University of Sharjah, Saab, LFV and Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP). For the VIP demonstration at the Swedish pavilion, a WATCHOUT show ran on three 65-inch displays and visualized the possibilities of using autonomous drones in large cities. The university's UTM-explore software on a 65-inch touch table enabled interactive control (via MIDI) by speakers and visitors.

"There are numerous potential applications for drones in a city – from tourist tours, to medical and goods deliveries, to emergency response – and many elements to factor in when it comes to managing this kind of unmanned traffic," explains Jonas Lundberg, Professor in Human Centered Design at Linköping University. "The interactive visualization with WATCHOUT means we can present those different scenarios in a way that everyone can follow and understand."

The demonstration was one of the UTM projects led by Linköping University professor Jonas Lundberg. UX designer Yin He, with design students, Jekaterina Basjuka and Charlotte Bertzen, developed the WATCHOUT visualization.