The term “digital twin” and “visual twin” are often mentioned together. However, while they share some similarities, they serve distinct purposes and can work together to create powerful solutions for asset management, engineering, and decision-making.
Understanding the differences between digital twin technology and visual twin technology is key to optimising their benefits and, in turn, optimising your operations.
Having been part of this rapidly growing industry since 2016 and with the team that were first to undertake data visualisation for oil and gas in the North Sea of Scotland, we have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of what differentiates the two.
The complexities are vast but it’s our aim in this blog to explain the key differences in an easy-to-understand way.
What is a visual twin?
A visual twin is a high-resolution, photorealistic representation of a physical asset or environment.
It provides an intuitive way to interact with and explore real-world spaces using geospatially accurate data. Created using LiDAR, photogrammetry, drone imaging, and 360-degree photography, a visual twin allows users to inspect and manage assets remotely with an unmatched level of detail.
Key benefits of a visual twin:
- Provides a true-to-life, immersive visualisation of assets
- Enhances project planning and validation
- Facilitates site documentation, training, and familiarisation
- Supports remote inspections and engineering collaboration
- Enables contextualisation and overlaying of data from digital twins
- Makes remote visual asset management and collaboration easier
What is a digital twin?
How does a digital twin work? A digital twin goes beyond visualisation. It is a real-time, data-driven virtual model that simulates the behaviour, performance, and condition of physical assets or systems. Unlike a visual twin, digital twin software incorporates metadata, sensor data, and analytics to enable predictive maintenance, automation, and performance monitoring.
Key benefits of a digital twin:
- Provides real-time, remote monitoring of assets
- Enables performance analysis and predictive maintenance
- Supports simulations and automation
- Uses real-time IoT data to predict future conditions
- Syncs with visual twins to embed 'as-built' visualisation data
The power of integration
While each of these industrial visualisation technologies have strengths, combining visual and digital twins creates a more comprehensive digital ecosystem. A visual twin provides the context and accessibility needed for effective decision-making, while a digital twin enhances this by delivering real-time insights, simulations, and automated responses.
Many organisations begin their digital asset management journey with a visual twin as a foundation before integrating it into a broader digital twin framework.
Real-world applications
By integrating both visual and digital twins, organisations can streamline workflows, improve operational efficiency, and enhance safety. Industries such as construction, energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing benefit significantly from this combination, using it for remote inspections, predictive maintenance, and collaborative project planning.
With asset management software like ZynQ, managing and hosting reality capture data becomes seamless, allowing businesses to harness the full potential of both visual twin technology and digital twin technology.
If you're looking to explore how a visual twin can enhance your operations or how it integrates within an existing digital twin ecosystem, reach out to the ZynQ 360 team today.
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