MIRROR WORLDS

Can digital twins save humanity?

- Prianka Srinivasan

In the physical realm, Tuvalu is under I threat. The Pacific nation, made up of nine atolls dotting a 676-kilometre stretch of ocean midway between Hawai'i and Australia, is one of the lowest-lying countries in the world its highest point peaks just a few metres above sea level. Residents fear the waves that constantly lick at the shore will one day swallow their land completely. Some have already been forced to relocate from their coastal homes as droughts, violent storms and floods become more frequent and unpredictable.

Climate change could soon push their country to oblivion. A recent technical report from NASA reveals Tuvalu is experiencing sea level rise 1.5 times faster than the global average, and predicts that by 2050, much of its land and critical infrastructure will be covered by average high tide levels.

In the digital realm, though, Tuvalu hopes to attain immortality.

Its government plans to replicate the entire nation onto a virtual platform. Te Afualiku - a small islet expected to be one of the first in Tuvalu to be completely submerged - has already been painstakingly mapped, digitised and put on the Metaverse as an interactive simulation by developers from the Australian firm Accenture Song. The team couldn't visit the islet due to COVID travel restrictions; they constructed the proof of-concept model "by eye" using drone footage and screenshots sent to them by Tuvalu residents via WhatsApp. It's hoped that eventually clones of all 124 of Tuvalu's islands will be accessible online and through virtual-reality headsets.

The Tuvalu islet Te Afualiku (below) is the first to be completely digitised. Knee-deep in water on what used to be land (above), Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe told COP27: "As our land disappears, we have no choice but to become the world's first digital nation."