What is a Digital Twin?
The term digital twin seems to be on the lips of everyone in the smart building industry at the moment. But what exactly is a digital twin?
We have asked experts in the industry how they would coin the term, and we've added our own definition.
Here is a short video to explain what a digital twin is in our eyes…
amBX definition - A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical asset. For example, a digital version of a room, building or city can exist; this allows changes to be simulated, for example, to improve energy efficiency, reconfigure spaces for improved usability or, on a larger scale, predict how it would impact the flow of traffic if a new building were to be built in a city. Digital twins allow situations to be roleplayed to minimise risk and solve potential challenges before applying changes to a physical asset.
Dogu Taskiran is a software developer, a smart city thought leader, and the CEO of Stambol Studios, based in Canada. We interviewed him on our podcast, and we discussed all things digital twins. You can listen to the episode here. He stated that:
"A digital twin can tell the user how their building is used and the current 'state' of it, e.g., it can show whether a specific door is open or closed, but taking that one step further and integrating it with virtual and augmented reality, the user can actually see if the door is open in the virtual model and walk around the building. The digital twin can be used to control physical assets or gather information and simulate changes, predicting what will happen in the future.
Historical data collected from the digital twin allows anomalies to be highlighted. This, therefore, facilitates predictive maintenance, extending the life of assets, or improving operational efficiencies.
In addition, this can be done automatically; AI can make decisions. It can decide to turn the AC on in a certain area and the lights off in another". - Dogu Taskiran
We also spoke with Rob Mitchell on the podcast; at the time, he worked for SSE in their smart building division; however, he now works for Hoare Lea, continuing his passion for creating sustainable buildings.
We discussed the importance of future-proofing buildings…
"When you take digital technologies such as BIM, digital twinning and then the horsepower we have with systems to take the data and overlay AI, that is radically changing the industry. So, I think the old ways will change. I think more will be done through AI and ML, and less skilled labour will be required". - Rob Mitchell
Alexandra Moxin explained her definition in this video clip from our podcast about AI and Smart Buildings.
Alexandra is Vice President of Product at Adaptech Group, and she also hosts her own Technology podcast, we discussed a range of topics on the podcast, and digital twins were one. She stated that "a digital twin is an exact replica of an existing system, using sensors to gather data and model real-time situations".
