Halfway through RESIST: XR Demonstrators and Emerging Directions
- Post by: Marco Bertoni
- 2nd July 2025
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The EU-funded project RESIST (Regions for climate change resilience through Innovation, Science and Technology) has officially reached its halfway mark, completing 2.5 years of its five-year journey. Launched in January 2023 and set to conclude in December 2027, RESIST brings together regions, municipalities, researchers, and innovators from 12 regions across Europe to advance climate adaptation through systemic innovation, citizen engagement, and cross-border collaboration.
As the project reaches this important milestone, the research team reflects on key achievements to date and prepares for the next phase of implementation, focusing on upscaling solutions, deepening impact, and ensuring long-term sustainability.
During the first half of the project, Region Blekinge and Blekinge Institute of Technology worked on identifying and developing mechanisms to boost citizen engagement and accelerate climate adaptation implementation. This effort centered on creating immersive virtual environments powered by Extended Reality (XR), virtual production, and linked to high-quality digital twins and simulations. The research followed a plan-do-check-act cycle, developing and testing various modelling concepts and strategies tailored to different purposes, decisions, and audiences. Aligned with participatory action research principles, a total of 14 demos were created across Blekinge, serving as proof of concept for XR applications. These demos aimed primarily to raise awareness and involve citizens and stakeholders in climate adaptation design. Technologies explored included Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Production, with several demos utilising the AugmentCity’s Graphycal Digital Twin (GDT), showcased mainly in a virtual production setting.
Raising awareness on rising sea levels
In Blekinge, the average sea level is projected to rise by 60 cm by the end of the century, with high tides, storms, and flash floods further compounding the risks and highlighting the urgent need for proactive interventions. The AugmentCity Graphical Digital Twin (GDT) has been extensively applied and tested to illustrate the impacts of rising water levels and potential flooding in key areas of Blekinge. This includes the neighbourhoods of Hattholmen and Stumholmen, as well as the surroundings of Nättrabyån in the city of Karlskrona. Additionally, the tool has been used to visualize flood scenarios along the Mieån river, which flows through the city center of Karlshamn.
The project has advanced the development of immersive experiences addressing sea level rise by integrating evidence-based content and introducing innovative interactive features. These allow users to actively engage with the virtual environment, manipulate scenario elements, and explore the underlying causes, consequences, and scientific context of sea level rise. Additionally, the work has led to optimized production workflows, including enhanced graphics, improved water and weather simulations, and the use of scanned real-world elements to heighten realism and impact. These advancements were recently demonstrated in a case study focused on Stumholmen Island in Karlskrona, where users can explore the effects of weather and climate change from a first-person perspective within a Virtual Production setting. The result is a more meaningful and impactful experience that fosters deeper understanding and encourages reflection on the urgency of climate adaptation.
Gamification has been further combined with immersive visualisation to deliver engaging, informative, and fast-paced experiences that highlight the urgency of climate change and the importance of adaptation solutions. A prime example is the VR demo ‘Escape the Water Rise’, created by students under RESIST researchers’ supervision using the Unreal Engine. In this immersive game, players must prevent the flooding of Karlskrona’s Naval Museum, projected for the year 2100. With just over a minute to activate water retention barriers, participants engage in a high-pressure, real-time simulation that not only heightens excitement but also offers a tangible, relatable way to understand the impact of climate adaptation in a familiar environment.
Flash flood awareness
Flash floods awareness has been explored through three interconnected demos, each focusing on different aspects of flood risk and visualization.
First, the GDT has been used to visualize flooding scenarios along the Lyckebyån River, which runs through the eastern part of Karlskrona and poses a risk in its final stretch through densely populated areas. Data from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) was integrated into the GDT to display color-coded forecasts of various water levels around the river’s outlet, offering an accessible, map-based visualization tool for understanding risk.
Second, an ultra-realistic demo was developed to complement the GDT by focusing on the possible impact of a flash flood in the main square of Karlshamn. Using drone-scanned point cloud data, a high-fidelity 3D model of the area was built and imported into Unreal Engine to visualise the effects of a sudden cloud burst. This version emphasized visual immersion and realism, helping users experience the destructive potential of a major flood. The demo was featured by Sveriges Radio P4 Blekinge to increase public visibility.
Third, the project explored evacuation dynamics during flash floods. This included simulations of large-scale evacuations in Karlskrona and Ronneby, using MATSim, a multi-agent traffic simulation platform selected for its ability to model detailed road networks and integrate with the GDT. This tool was used to study evacuation flows, providing a critical planning resource for emergency response.
Drought and water scarcity awareness
While Blekinge faces risks from rising sea levels and river flooding, the region is also increasingly vulnerable to drought and water scarcity. To raise awareness and explore potential solutions, two extended reality (XR) demos were developed focusing on water consumption and conservation. The first demo is an immersive VR tabletop experience visualizing household water usage in the municipality of Sölvesborg. Each household appears as a color-coded cube on a 3D map and can be interacted with using hand gestures. The map was generated using Bing Maps within the Unity 3D engine, and real-world water consumption data were integrated from public databases. Future consumption was simulated using AnyLogic, an agent-based modeling platform, allowing users to explore both current and forecasted scenarios.
The second demo uses augmented reality (AR) and gamification to engage citizens in a hands-on learning journey about household water consumption. Built around a physical 3D-printed house model, the game overlays interactive 3D objects that serve as prompts and references during the experience. Players answer a series of questions, and once completed, the AR visualization reveals where the household’s water originates and displays the total annual water consumption for the entire city. To convey scale, this volume is shown as a massive water cube placed in Karlskrona’s city center—offering a powerful visual reference for the city’s water needs.
Participation in Climate-Change Adaptation solutions design
Another key theme focuses on visualizing and providing feedback on proposed future concepts related to proposed climate adaptation solutions. This work is connected to a project led by Blekinge County Board, involving the municipality of Karlskrona, centered on developing a coastal defense wall around the city. The initial proposal and conceptual design for this protection, which was developed in 2023 in a project led the County Administrative Board of Blekinge in 20234, was imported into the GDT and used as a basis to iterate on the overall design and to gather qualitative feedback on the impact of this proposed CCA. The design follows an original city plan from 1683 that was never realized, aiming to bring this long-standing vision to life in the context of modern climate resilience efforts. One set of demos have explored various aspects of immersive XR functionality to support the design of large climate adaptation projects, aiming to inform decision-makers about solution requirements by tapping into the tacit knowledge of citizens and other stakeholders—both tangible and intangible. The GDT was used through several iterations to better represent the intended and potential uses of the coastal wall, including recreational purposes. The initial version (v1.0) featured simplified 3D models imported into the GDT and placed on a map, primarily to test the feasibility of importing original designs and using the platform for idea dissemination. Later iterations (v2.0) enhanced the design representation with detailed models, textures, lighting, weather effects, and additional objects to improve immersion and stimulate user engagement. This version aimed to immerse users fully in the proposed design, allowing them to explore different camera angles, movements, and climate conditions, encouraging deeper reflection on both obvious and subtle potential uses of the climate adaptation solution.
Additional demos have explored the use of VR to enhance understanding and interaction with proposed coastal wall solution. These immersive experiences allowed users to virtually navigate along different segments of the wall, helping them assess both its strengths and limitations, teleporting to various vantage points. Another demo demonstrated how Augmented Reality can enhance traditional, analogue media by enabling users to explore detailed features of alternative coastal wall designs in a more engaging way. A final demo showcased the integration of VR, digital twins, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to monitor and protect culturally significant buildings from rising sea levels.
The Pop-up Climate Tech Tour
The primary method for showcasing the demos has been the Pop-up Climate Tech Tour (PCTT), which was deployed three times at major events in 2024 and 2025, engaging around 210 participants including politicians and decision-makers. One key reason for investing in the PCTT is its temporary and flexible nature, allowing quick setup in various locations to reach diverse audiences. This makes it ideal for engaging people where they live and where climate adaptation projects are planned to be implemented. Additionally, pop-ups create a unique, immersive experience that captures attention and encourages interaction, making complex climate topics more accessible and memorable.
XR PathFinder
XR Pathfinder is a key ongoing initiative within the RESIST project, running in parallel with the development of XR demonstrators. It is designed to support decision-makers, policymakers, and other stakeholders in effectively leveraging XR technologies to engage citizens and co-design climate adaptation strategies. Acting as a virtual assistant, XR Pathfinder helps identify the most suitable XR tools for specific decisions, offering guidance not only for immediate implementation but also with a long-term perspective—taking into account the full lifecycle of XR technologies. This includes considerations such as initial investment, learning curve, user engagement, long-term maintenance, and sustainability. The recommendations provided are grounded in the lessons learned and best practices emerging from RESIST and cover aspects like purchase costs, installation needs, usability, data security, ownership, durability, and required IT support. A first working proof of concept is scheduled for release in October 2025, marking the next step in its iterative development.
