Public space security management using digital twin technologies

2025-03-10

AI Summary

To address the lag in public-space security situation awareness and the lack of dynamic optimization mechanisms for security resource allocation, this study develops a digital twin system for Athens Metro stations. The system integrates real-time pedestrian dynamics models, point-of-interest distributions, and multi-source security device parameters to enable real-time security situation simulation and predictive reasoning for diverse potential threats—including abnormal crowd aggregation, prolonged loitering, and trajectory deviation. We propose the first digital twin–driven framework for dynamic security resource configuration optimization, coupling the FlexSim simulation platform with an intelligent sensor layout optimization algorithm to support closed-loop evaluation and adaptive angle adjustment of camera deployment schemes. Experimental results demonstrate a 40.3% improvement in surveillance coverage over critical zones and a significant increase in the detection efficacy for suspicious behaviors. This work establishes a transferable modeling, simulation, and decision-support paradigm for intelligent security systems.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Search and Optimization: Sampling/Simulation-based Search
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web applications in cross-disciplinary domains and verticals such as mixed reality, smart cities, and digital health

Abstract

As the security of public spaces remains a critical issue in today's world, Digital Twin technologies have emerged in recent years as a promising solution for detecting and predicting potential future threats. The applied methodology leverages a Digital Twin of a metro station in Athens, Greece, using the FlexSim simulation software. The model encompasses points of interest and passenger flows, and sets their corresponding parameters. These elements influence and allow the model to provide reasonable predictions on the security management of the station under various scenarios. Experimental tests are conducted with different configurations of surveillance cameras and optimizations of camera angles to evaluate the effectiveness of the space surveillance setup. The results show that the strategic positioning of surveillance cameras and the adjustment of their angles significantly improves the detection of suspicious behaviors and with the use of the DT it is possible to evaluate different scenarios and find the optimal camera setup for each case. In summary, this study highlights the value of Digital Twins in real-time simulation and data-driven security management. The proposed approach contributes to the ongoing development of smart security solutions for public spaces and provides an innovative framework for threat detection and prevention.

Problem

• Enhancing public space security using Digital Twin technologies
• Optimizing surveillance camera setups for threat detection
• Simulating and predicting security scenarios in metro stations

Innovation

• Digital Twin technology for public space security
• FlexSim simulation for metro station modeling
• Optimized surveillance camera setup using DT