SJSU Campus Living Lab

Using the campus as a testbed for connected digital twins and practical university projects.

A federated campus living lab can connect selected buildings, systems and infrastructure without requiring one monolithic campus model.

Living Laboratory Concept

A distinctive direction for the SJSU Digital Twin Lab is to use the university campus itself as a living laboratory. Students and faculty can develop digital twins of selected buildings, facilities, transportation systems and infrastructure while addressing practical university needs.

A Phased and Federated Approach

The campus twin can begin with one building, system or operational question and expand over time into a connected collection of twins. This approach allows each project to use the level of detail, data, and model fidelity appropriate to its purpose while still contributing to a larger campus research environment.

Potential SJSU Projects

• SJSU Campus Digital Twin: develop a phased digital representation of selected campus buildings and systems.
• Smart Buildings and Sustainability: model energy use, HVAC performance, water consumption, emissions, thermal comfort, and potential efficiency improvements.
• Space Utilization and Campus Planning: analyze classrooms, laboratories, study spaces, accessibility, scheduling, and renovation scenarios.
• Transportation and Campus Mobility: model pedestrians, bicycles, shuttles, parking, traffic, deliveries, and emergency access.
• Infrastructure Monitoring and Resilience: support fault detection, maintenance planning, emergency scenarios, and resilience studies.
• AI Agents for Digital Twin Environments: develop agents that perform simulated inspections, answer operational questions, and recommend actions.
• Interactive Virtual Campus Experiences: create web-accessible 3D experiences for instruction, outreach, research demonstrations, and remote exploration.

Teaching and Research Value

Campus projects can provide shared, authentic problems for interdisciplinary courses and research. Students can work with real constraints and data while campus units gain prototypes, analyses, and visualizations that may inform future planning.

Concept Gallery

Concept illustration of campus-scale operations and energy information.

Concept illustration of a building twin combining geometry, infrastructure, and operational data.

Concept illustration of sustainability planning and scenario comparison.

Concept illustration of an augmented-reality campus learning experience.