Alibaba Future City

Computing Conference 2018 in Hangzhou, China

Alibaba presents the Ali Future City “Alitopia” at the Computing Conference 2018 in Hangzhou, China. The Chinese technology company is showing an exhibit of a futuristic metropolis. The buildings are made of Lego. AR technology conveys trend-setting messages to the visitors.

The exhibit clearly shows the Alibaba ecosystem and the intelligent urban emergency management system. Around 40,000 Lego bricks, numerous Lego characters and other properties bring the “Future City” to life.

The Alibaba Group and its eco-chain sounds super-complex, but VAVE tried to make it understandable with a future city built by Lego bricks.

Welcome to Alibaba future city, there is a lot to discover here. VR scans via tablet are transferred to a large screen in the background.

The interactive exhibit is accessible from all sides.

The whole city is connected to the ET-brain.

The ET-Brain is located in the city centre and at the same time in the centre of the exhibit. This is the centre for the artificial intelligence of the city. All parts of the city are connected to the ET-brain. Buildings, vehicles and every plant in the city.

The artificial brain-like building simulates a city’s artificial intelligence center.

In an example scenario the visitor gains an insight into the future: The financial building is on fire, the smoke cause an alarm. The ET-Brain receives the message and automatically alerts the nearest fire engine and ambulance. Traffic is automatically regulated by traffic lights switching to a “green wave”. All vehicles are also informed and automatically make way for the emergency vehicles. In this way, fire engines and ambulances can quickly get to the scene of the accident.

The financial building is on fire. Detected smoke activates the alarm and ET brain gets informed directly.

the nearest fire truck is dispatched. The traffic lights are controlled remotely (green wave), so that help is immediately available.

In a playful way the visitor learns a lot about the Alitopia Big Data concept. One of its aims is to win government support for the project.

Surprises related to the Ali ecosystem are hidden inside the exhibit. The sculpture in the center of the model corresponds to the real sculpture in front of the DingTalk building in Ali Hangzhou Park. A VR scan shows the history of DingTalk on the screen.

Virtual reality shows interesting background information on urban structure.

Different functions within the city can be scanned.

The visitor can discover the whole city structure by using VR via a tablet.

With Alitopia, Alibaba wants to arouse interest in the complex Ali economy. Stories transform complicated technical contexts into easily comprehensible situations from everyday life.

Many little stories can be discovered in the Lego city.

The Alibaba Group’s ecological approaches are very complex. With this exhibit VAVE makes the new ideas comprehensible to the general public with simple and effective ideas.

The message: this fascinating city of the future could soon become reality.

Welcome to the future, want to join?

Concept
VAVE GmbH

Design
VAVE GmbH

Client
Alibaba Group

 

Structure
1st Lego
Elysian Studio

2nd Technician table
Shanghai Xuanying Model Co.,Ltd

3rd Multimedia
Miugo Digital

Event Location
The Computing Conference 2018, Hangzhou

Photography
Haocheng Tang

Size
10 sqm

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