November 25, 2021

In terms of population size, Vallentuna is not amongst the biggest cities in Sweden. However, when it comes to innovation, size does not matter. The municipality recently took a giant leap towards becoming one of the most innovative. A unique Smart City pilot project has been initiated in the city during the fall of 2021. The project involves three organizations; Vallentuna Kommun, multinational bus company Transdev, and Swedish tech company Univrses, who also leads the project.

The objective is to address the need for relevant and actionable urban and roadside data in the Municipality of Vallentuna. By combining Univrses’ proprietary AI technology with resources provided by the other participants, the project introduces a new paradigm for data acquisition and management within cities.

Smartphones, buses and AI

The practical execution of the project is simple. Smartphones equipped with Univrses’ AI software – 3DAI™ City – are being deployed in Transdev buses that are operating in and around Vallentuna. As these vehicles carry out their everyday services, the smartphone cameras capture images of their surroundings. These images are processed by the AI software on the phone (at the “edge”) to extract valuable real-time information about the city. Any data that is provided to the city is made anonymous. As a result, 3DAI™ City is GDPR-compliant.

“It was impressive to see how accurate the results were”

Matilde Österholm, Traffic Engineer at Vallentuna Kommun, is excited about this pioneering project, and the results from the 3DAI™ City deployment already speak for themselves.

“We compared our own data and records with Univrses’ dashboard and it is nearly identical. It was impressive to see how accurate the results were. After looking at the dashboard, we even identified road sections that were in need of urgent attention, and deployed resources to repair them immediately. This would have taken much longer if we did not have the 3DAI™ City tool.” 

3DAI™ City continuously captures real-time information on features like road cracks and potholes, and the condition for the city’s numerous traffic signs, in Vallentuna. The data is instantly made available to the municipality’s Road Transport Administration via Univrses’ interactive dashboard. Once the data is in the hands of traffic engineers and urban planners, faster decisions can be made and resources deployed more efficiently. The system saves money, saves time and, potentially, saves lives.

Univrses’ CEO Jonathan Selbie sees great potential:

“People often ask ‘what is a smart city?’ I think they need look no further than  Vallentuna.  When organizations with different competences operating in a city join forces to solve a problem, without the need for additional resources or hardware, all for the good of citizens and the environment – what could be smarter than that?” Selbie says. “Together, we are addressing an urgent need for cost-effective scalable tools that can facilitate urban and roadside management in cities. Univrses’ AI technology, Transdev’s vehicles and Vallentuna municipality’s expertise turned out to be a perfect match.”

The enthusiasm is shared by the third project partner, Transdev. The international bus and transit company sees the unique pilot as a great opportunity to explore new ways in which innovative technologies can make the company’s operations more efficient  Joram Langbroek, Transport Developer at Transdev, also points out the huge benefits of contributing to the urban and roadside environments that they are operating in:

“Our drivers are out on the roads every day. They are the ones, along with our customers, who are affected by poor road quality. It’s one of the main reasons why we gladly participate in a project such as this one. If our contribution can lead to better road conditions, you can count on us.  We are very excited to see the results of this trial and hopefully help decision-makers and road engineers in making the roads safer and more comfortable to travel on.”

3DAI™ City – Univrses’ Smart City platform

The unique technology behind this project is called 3DAI™ City. Simply by deploying a smartphone onto a moving vehicle, large amounts of timely, relevant and actionable city data can be captured. The data, that is made anonymous, is accessible to all through Univrses’ web-based dashboard. As Univrses’ team of scientists and expert engineers continue to develop The Company’s proprietary algorithms, new areas of use will be explored for 3DAI™ City. The technology introduces a new paradigm in Smart City monitoring and management, and it has the potential to change urban society as we know it.

For the latest news updates on this project and about Univrses’ technologies, visit www.univrses.com and follow Univrses on social media.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/univrses

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/univrses

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/univrses_com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/univrses/

About Univrses

Univrses is a Stockholm-based Computer Vision and Machine Learning company. The technical focus is in areas like 3D Positioning, 3D Mapping, 3D Localization, Spatial Deep Learning and Sensor Fusion. Univrses has collaborated with several leading Swedish companies including Zenseact, ABB and Husqvarna. 

Read more at https://univrses.com

About Vallentuna kommun

Vallentuna is a municipality located in the northern part of Stockholm County, ca 30 km from the Swedish capital. The increasing population is now close to 35,000 people. The municipality is responsible for delivering everyday services, ranging from sanitation and road works to healthcare and climate action, to all inhabitants. As Stockholm keeps expanding, surrounding urban areas like Vallentuna are expected to grow further.

Read more at https://www.vallentuna.se

About Transdev

Transdev is a multinational mobility company that operates within public transport in 17 countries. Its Swedish branch, Transdev Sverige AB, operates a number of subsidiaries in the Nordic country, focusing on bus and train transportation services. Their vehicles are used for local public bus services in various Swedish cities.

Read more at https://www.transdev.com/en/

For additional information, please contact Alfred Lindberg or Jonathan Selbie.

Alfred Lindberg
Business Analyst
alfred.lindberg@univrses.com

Jonathan Selbie
CEO
jonathan.selbie@univrses.com