Vercel app , what i made use of to host
The view of Sentinel
Checking maps to get an almost realistic road feel
sentinel race game , i made this but didnt have the time to put it in the world

Emergency Response Digital Twin-Sentinel

Inspiration

The idea for this project came from thinking about how emergency responders often have to make critical decisions with limited visual information. Whether it's a fire or another urban emergency, knowing what is happening, where it is happening, and the fastest way to respond can make a significant difference.

I wanted to explore how a 3D digital twin could help visualize emergency situations in real time, making it easier to understand the environment and coordinate a response. Although the long-term vision includes multiple disaster scenarios such as floods and hazardous incidents, I chose to focus on fire emergencies for this prototype because they are among the most common urban emergencies and allowed me to build a polished proof of concept within the hackathon timeframe.

What it does

Emergency Response Digital Twin recreates a section of an urban environment in 3D and simulates a fire emergency.

Users can:

View a realistic 3D representation of the environment.
Detect a fire incident.
Dispatch emergency response vehicles.
Watch responders travel through the city.
Observe water being deployed to extinguish the fire.
Monitor the emergency from a central command-style interface.

The project demonstrates how digital twins can be used for emergency planning, training, and situational awareness.

How I built it

The project combines modern web technologies with 3D graphics to create an interactive simulation.

Some of the technologies used include:

React
Three.js / React Three Fiber
JavaScript
3D models and particle effects
Modern UI components for the command dashboard

The environment was designed using real-world references to create a believable urban district while keeping performance suitable for the web.

Challenges I ran into

The biggest challenge was time.

I joined the hackathon later than planned, so I had to make difficult decisions about scope. Rather than attempting several incomplete disaster simulations, I focused on delivering one polished emergency scenario.

Other challenges included:

Creating a believable urban layout.
Balancing visual quality with browser performance.
Synchronizing vehicle movement, fire effects, and water animations.
Designing an interface that was simple enough for first-time users while still feeling like an emergency operations center. -Getting an osm file for my loaction -Predicting and arranging the variable[people,cars]

These constraints forced me to prioritize the user experience over adding more features.

What I learned

This project taught me that building interactive simulations is about much more than graphics.

I learned how important it is to:

Design around the user's experience.
Reduce project scope when working under tight deadlines.
Optimize 3D scenes for web performance.
Combine visualization with meaningful interaction instead of creating a static model.

Most importantly, I learned that a focused, polished feature is often more impactful than many unfinished ones.

What's next

This prototype represents the first module of a larger Emergency Response Digital Twin platform-Sentinel.

Future versions will include:

Flood simulation
Hazardous material incidents
Earthquake response
AI-assisted emergency recommendations
Dynamic weather conditions
Multi-agency coordination
Real-time GIS and sensor integration

The long-term goal is to create a platform that can support emergency planning, responder training, and smarter decision-making for cities.

Built With

Submitted to

3D Websites Hackathon

Created by

I worked primarily independently on Sentinel World, handling the overall concept, design direction, development, testing, research, and iteration of the project.

I designed the core idea and decided how Sentinel would evolve from a simple 3D recreation of an estate into a fire simulator and eventually into a larger interactive game world. A significant part of my work involved researching how other games approach 3D environments, movement, interaction, and physics. I took inspiration from the physics and movement systems found in car games, the accessible and expandable world-building of games such as Roblox and Minecraft, and the smooth presentation and interactions found in other modern games.

I spent a lot of time experimenting with these ideas and figuring out how to adapt them to Sentinel while also learning 3D development along the way. I built and assembled the environment, implemented and tested gameplay systems, worked on the fire-simulation concept, and continuously refined the project throughout the hackathon.

I used Claude as an AI development assistant to help with coding, debugging, research, and working through technical problems, but I directed the development and made the creative and technical decisions throughout the project.

The project still has a number of glitches and areas that need improvement, particularly because I was learning and building at the same time. However, identifying those problems, researching solutions, testing different approaches, and getting the project to its current state were all part of my contribution.

For me, Sentinel World was not only about producing a finished game for the hackathon, but also about challenging myself to learn 3D development and establish a foundation that I can continue building on.

Besong Covenant

Updates

Besong Covenant started this project — Aug 30, 2026 12:38 PM EDT

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