As physical assets in the built environment have grown larger and more complex, effective use of data has become ever more critical. Yet much of it is unusable or inaccessible. In fact, a recent construction industry survey found time spent on key details such as looking for missing project data and managing conflicts, incurred $177.5 billion in labour costs annually in the US alone. It also found miscommunication wasted more than $31 billion over the same period.

Users wrestle with the sheer volume and complexity of data being generated for each project, as well as the range of software required to handle it. Yet, in an approaching net zero world, decision-makers in the built environment will need to understand how their space currently performs and ensure they’re optimising areas such as energy consumption, heating and lighting and effective use of their space.

The issue is they don’t always have access to precise and measurable information. That’s because most of the relevant details are stored in data siloes, accessible only by a few data experts, if at all. Some experts say as much as 65% of a company’s data is so-called “dark data”, held within the network or on people’s own hard drives, so no tool can unlock it or there is too much unstructured information to decipher.

So, without a single source of truth for a company’s assets and infrastructure, strategic and operational decisions are (and might stay) sub-optimal. On the other hand, unlocking access to intelligent, decision-informing data and making it available to all, could not only minimise capex and opex expenditure but also help transform energy efficiency and assure sustainability measures.

Intuitively presented through a digital twin

So, how do you ensure your data is accessible and actionable across all parts of an organisation? A digital twin can unerringly deliver the right data to the right people. That’s because it’s able to extract and present information about a built space direct from sources within the physical environment.

But there’s an overlooked element: format. Recognising that humans are instinctively visual, digital twins have traditionally used 2D techniques to simulate depth and distance in images of the built environment. To improve the accuracy and completeness of that study, digital twins must be able to present multi-layered inputs as the golden thread of data and insights, with outstanding clarity and from any viewpoint.

Analysing and acting upon visual intelligence (VQ) takes sophisticated tools, which can then help achieve the sought-after source of single truth. Using proprietary cloud-based software, the Spinview VQecosystemTM captures, connects, and consolidates a vast array of data including floor plans, Excel spreadsheets, JPEGs, 360° virtual tours, drone footage, façade plans, and IoT sensors. It can even ingest data from mobile devices like smartphones.

Helping improve the performance and health of built spaces

Using immersive technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) together with Artificial Intelligence (AI), the VQecosystemTM brings new order to your data. A virtual replica of the real-world analysing and enhancing the performance and health of designed, built, or managed spaces.

Integrating diverse and complex streams of infrastructure and environmental data, a VQ digital twin can be accessed in the cloud or via an on-premises solution. Viewed across a range of fixed and mobile devices, the information is presented intuitively. Structured into logical sets, it becomes available to anyone with access rights.

That ability helps overcome the barriers faced in the design, planning, and management of physical spaces including buildings, bridges, roads and railways. Once captured and presented through a visually intelligent digital twin, data becomes an actionable asset as a basis for decision-making, deduced from hard facts.

For example, IT managers wanting to transform systems and software can improve data availability and achieve a single source of truth all can access. Helping them do their jobs more efficiently, the market-leading environment offered by Spinview Vision enables real-time collaboration across all workstreams. It brings together information – regardless of format or location – under one umbrella without compromising traceability and providing visual intelligence to all stakeholders whatever their needs.

Under pressure to comply with climate legislation, sustainability managers can overlay IoT sensor and scanner-based data for a factual baseline and use the resulting analysis to identify and target savings that can be made in operational and embodied carbon. The digital twin helps assess how far shy of net zero targets they are and allows visualisation of future scenarios to understand the levers to pull for energy savings. Reporting against environmental scorecards also shows robust sustainability practices to stakeholders.

Introducing the enterprise metaverse

Just as exciting, digital twin technology will play a major role in the introduction of the enterprise metaverse. An October 2022 paper by McKinsey says: “We envision a world where the lines between physical and digital environments blur. Every asset, process, or person within and related to an enterprise will be replicated virtually – and connected.” That aspirational journey started with digital twins. They will also probably be the engines that power it.

McKinsey adds that nearly every aspect of work will take place digitally. Immersive tools will give people real-world building and product design experience at their desks by manipulating 3D replicas. Simulations will use data streams from across and beyond the enterprise to help executives predict what’s next. And the best courses of action in even the most turbulent times.

Opening a window on new ideas

That’s why today’s digital twins are designed to fuse data sets to unearth previously invisible insights and solutions. Presenting complex and diverse data streams in a visually intelligent manner means normal businesspeople, whatever their background or specialism, can understand the current situation and to set sustainability goals through obstacle-free pathways.

Making organisations more connected, with everyone on the same page, a business-wide (or even government-wide) perspective emerges with more precise understanding and better-informed decisions. In the light of such developments, advanced digital twins powered by visual intelligence are not just a vanguard for the metaverse but, indeed, the very spirit of it.

That will empower those even without expert knowledge to dream up new ideas and communicate them more effectively. From that vantage point, the power of digital twins is not just about bringing siloed data into play. It's the application of VQ to make it accessible and actionable by all. Therein lies the key.