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Anyone being slammed with Digital Twin marketing?

I thought I would share with the community one of my recent articles on my thoughts on Digital Twins. There has been a lot of marketing over the last couple of years from software vendors pushing their solutions as Digital Twins. Have a read of my article and let me know whether you are being impacted by this yet from your clients.

 

https://www.skewed.com.au/blog/digital-twins-%E2%80%93-latest-marketing-catch-phrase#.Y1ytDHZBwmA

Nathan Hildebrandt fraia
Director | Skewed
AC6 - AC27 | WIN 11 | i9-10900K, 3.7Ghz | 32GB Ram | NVIDIA GeForce RTX
3070
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If you are at any BIM events like BrisBIM, BILT, or The Digital Twin Partnership events then you will know all about it!

Nathan Hildebrandt fraia
Director | Skewed
AC6 - AC27 | WIN 11 | i9-10900K, 3.7Ghz | 32GB Ram | NVIDIA GeForce RTX
3070

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16 REPLIES 16
mthd
Ace

As with any analogy, it can mean what you want it to mean and the meaning can change over time.

 

My first thought was, this is about two BIM CAD software packages that lead the market but I think I am off track with my interpretation ?

 

I think it’s a bit like a phrase in a song and it can mean different things to different persons.

 

There are more than two CAD BIM systems out there that Architects favour and use. Nemetcheck has digital triplets in this analogy lol. 

 

If we compare Autodesk to Nemetcheck it could be taken as digital twins in the CAD BIM market.

 

Same with Apple to Microsoft so unless it’s specified, take it as you will.

 

All marketing spin and used to gain consumers attention.

 

 

AC8.1 - AC28 ARM AUS + CI Tools
Apple Mac Studio M1 Max Chip 10C CPU
24C GPU 7.8TF 32GB RAM OS Sequoia

A bit more context for you. This post wasn’t referring to Autodesk or Nemetschek. It was another large international software vendor. 😉

Nathan Hildebrandt fraia
Director | Skewed
AC6 - AC27 | WIN 11 | i9-10900K, 3.7Ghz | 32GB Ram | NVIDIA GeForce RTX
3070
Jim Allen
Advisor

Yep, from all the marketing BS, one could be forgiven for thinking that this is the next best thing since sliced bread.

 

Except when I started reading about it, I didn't understand it or the real world benefits.

 

By this, I mean that the articles were all in English, and all the words were in the right order, but much of it was so full of buzzwords and jargon, that I didn't actually understand most of it.

 

I should say at this point that I've been using CAD for probably 35 years, 3D modelling for maybe 30, rendering for 25, I've been involved in software development for over a decade and I've been using BIM for around 6 years. I've used well over a dozen 3D/CAD/BIM applications, and I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about this stuff!

 

On the face of it, it allows someone to create a 3D facsimile of a building or environment and simulate performance. Okay, that's straightforward, the next bit is how exactly?

 

What inputs are required, from what sensors, where are they located, how do they connect to the model, what software is used, what are the conduits, how does it perform at scale, and how exactly does it relate to BIM?

 

Are all these things 'secret' and based on proprietary technology that only the big multinationals can access?

 

Does anyone have any actual examples of how this works? People talk about modelling traffic, energy, weather, occupancy etc, but I can't see much in the way of who has done it, how it is done, what it has actually achieved, the benefits and its ROI. Currently it sounds like a load of snake oil salesmen.

 

I'm getting dejà vu from the early days of BIM and crypto-currency.

 

Am I living in a parallel universe?

 

 

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

@JIM yep it is a sad state of affairs, marketing itself can be the potential downfall of such important technology. There will be some great benefits from it, but will people really believe it after all of the fake hype?

Nathan Hildebrandt fraia
Director | Skewed
AC6 - AC27 | WIN 11 | i9-10900K, 3.7Ghz | 32GB Ram | NVIDIA GeForce RTX
3070
mthd
Ace

Is this the definition of “Digital Twins” that you are referring to ?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_twin

 

Very interesting, as I had never heard of that concept before. I haven’t been bombarded with that type of marketing here in Australia yet but others may have ?

 

It does apply to our field of work of simulating a BIM concept and then it actually being physically constructed on site.

 

it reminds me of when the concepts of 4th and 5th dimensions were being thrown around in regards to BIM ? 

 

Even the term BIM was new and in vogue not long ago and yet it has stuck.

 

All marketing jargon to get us all interested ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AC8.1 - AC28 ARM AUS + CI Tools
Apple Mac Studio M1 Max Chip 10C CPU
24C GPU 7.8TF 32GB RAM OS Sequoia

"There will be some great benefits from it..."

But will there though - really?

 

To me it looks like another 3D printing hypefest.

Who is really going to invest in this? How wide scale will it be?

 

Looks exactly like 3d printing to me. Pushed by lots of academics, techies and people with no real industry experience, and all with a vested interest.

 

Archicad 27 UKI | OS X 12.7.1 Monterey

No I honestly believe it will provide value. The problem is just like BIM people that don't understand it will ask for it anyway. There are some great benefits in digital twins if the use responds to a business need. The next buzzword that will get you excited is Smart Cities. I hopefully will be able to upload a new podcast and presentation shortly and I will share links to where you can see how real this is.

Nathan Hildebrandt fraia
Director | Skewed
AC6 - AC27 | WIN 11 | i9-10900K, 3.7Ghz | 32GB Ram | NVIDIA GeForce RTX
3070

It will be very widespread. They are promoting it already across Australia and at the Smart City Level for the Brisbane Olympics in 2032. It is also a very big thing in Saudi Arabia, they are pouring heaps of money into it. This is not a fad, it isn't concrete 3D printing. Trust me this is the next step.

Nathan Hildebrandt fraia
Director | Skewed
AC6 - AC27 | WIN 11 | i9-10900K, 3.7Ghz | 32GB Ram | NVIDIA GeForce RTX
3070
mthd
Ace

Nathan, thanks I will keep a look out for it. I am in SEQ so I will probably see it in the news.

AC8.1 - AC28 ARM AUS + CI Tools
Apple Mac Studio M1 Max Chip 10C CPU
24C GPU 7.8TF 32GB RAM OS Sequoia

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