Digital Twins

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What type of tools would you like a primer on? Email  construction.dive.editors@industrydive.com.While digital twins have been used for years in manufacturing and aviation, adoption is slowly making its way to onstruction.A digital twin is a virtual model of a building that collects real-world information about the structure via sensors, drones and other wireless technology.

The “twin” continuously learns from multiple sources, including advanced analytics, machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to gain valuable insights about the performance, operation or profitability of a project, whether built or in progress.

Digital twins can be used to conduct tests, gain insight or record events and experiences without impacting the built object. A digital twin can also integrate historical data from past usage to compare deviation to a baseline.

It’s important to note that a digital twin is a concept, not a single product or a piece of software, writes tech executive Vijay Raghunathan in Entrepreneur. In fact, the idea involves multiple technologies including 3D simulation, AI and cloud  computing.Twinning goes beyond a simulation to help users understand not only what can happen in the real world but what is happening in real time, he says.