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Earthquakes are common and profound natural disasters that pose serious threats to human life and economic activities. High-precision earthquake simulation and visualisation is an effective means to reduce loss of life and to future-proof building and urban planning designs. It is widely used in fields such as virtual production, filmmaking, gaming, emergency response, robotics training and education.��

However, existing methods of earthquake simulation typically require substantial computing resources, rarely operating in real time. That means their data processing is falling short in efficiency and interactive capabilities. Equally, visual fidelity tends to be on the lower spectrum. This means current methods pose challenges to an integration with virtual production systems as these rely on real-time and high-fidelity rendering and intuitive visual design workflows.

In response to this, a team comprising researchers from Royal College of Art’s��SNAP Visualisation Lab��and UNSW iCinema, in collaboration with London-based architecture studio Foster + Partners Ltd,��integrate ANSYS material physics simulation with the��Unreal Engine 5��fracturing system to simulate earthquakes in��Unreal��at high accuracy while maintaining visual fidelity and real-time interactivity.��

The core questions driving this research are:

1. How can we integrate advanced physical simulation with high-fidelity rendering technologies of game engines?
2. How to ensure the system meets the authenticity (super realistic and believable) and computational efficiency needs for Virtual Production and Extended Reality (XR)?
3. How to make the earthquake simulation environment both accurate and user friendly?

The research focuses in particular on enhancing the ANSYS material bridge plugin, on expanding��Unreal's fractured material library, and on improving overall user friendliness. For example, they are implementing dynamic deformations of the ground caused by earthquake waves to enhance simulation precision and realism. To furnish a seamless XR experience, the team is developing cross-platform interfaces to support applications from immersive surround projectors, XR devices and CoStar facilities, ensuring real-time interaction. Outcomes of the research will include a real-time emergency response demo to demonstrate future application potential.

The research is funded by the��XR Network+ Virtual Production in the Digital Economy��project, supported by the UK’s Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant Ref: EP/W020602/1).