blog: What are digital twins?

TrimbleMEP, BIM Today, August 27, 2019

Article originally publishes in BIM Today.

What are digital twins?

This article in BIM Today, composed by Trimble MEP, explains the usefulness of digital twins within the construction industry. However, while this article describes digital twins and their uses in a way that does align with our work and views here at Iotic, there are some elements that may be misleading.

To describe a Digital Twin as a 3D model or visualisation of an asset is restricting. A 'true' digital twin is instead an interoperable, virtual version - or copy - of any physical asset or source of data, capable of gathering and sharing information in an entirely secure way.

The overall description given further down in the article about digital twins, following into how they are used in construction, provides a really eloquent explanation of how they function and what they are, but still alludes to them being or aiding in the creation of a  model. Yes, a digital twin is 'a digital representation of a physical asset' and 'can automatically update according to adjustments made in the real world.' But the information gained through these continuous updates would not include the 'physical orientation' unless a 3D model was involved. 

'Digital twins align the real world with the virtual world and help illuminate the impact the environment has on a given physical asset. When the above technologies culminate,  a digital twin is able to learn from multiple sources and automatically adjust to accurately represent the status, condition, and position of its real-world counterpart.' This information can then be used to make predictions and increase overall efficiency and productivity.

Iotic are deploying intelligent digital twins that are able to do all that this article describes, entirely within one interoperable ecosystem. Acquisition of information is simple, as the technology provides the user with one single river of news about any asset through brokered interactions. This allows a company to share and receive data securely from twins internal to the business, as well as from twins of open data sources.

This technology is being used in construction today for example through our work with BAM Nuttall and Cranfield University which you can discover more about via The Learning Camera website.

To find out more about interoperable digital twins and how they can help you and your business, check out our website and get in touch!