VR and AR glasses are no longer just gaming technology; they are becoming the new interface for the digital twin ecosystem, from industrial design to urban planning.
The power of digital twins comes from being able to perceive data in three dimensions, but with VR/AR, this power becomes spatially experiential.
At TwinUp, we believe that digital twins will become environments that are not only viewable but also immersive, interactive, and capable of real-time decision-making.
From Screens to Immersion: A New Way of Understanding Cities
The traditional screen-based digital twin experience is limited in understanding multidimensional data.
VR/AR headsets, however,:
spatialise this data,
display it in a scaled manner,
and combine it with the user’s physical movement.
With TwinUp’s VR/AR-supported digital city twins, a user can:
physically ‘go underground’ to see the underground infrastructure,
monitor traffic flow with real-time 3D animations,
experience energy consumption scenarios within the space,
analyse risky areas through holographic displays.
This enables data to be not only seen, but felt.
Real-Time Interaction: Touching Data, Not Just Viewing It
An operator interacting with a digital twin through AR glasses:
can see pipeline pressure values hovering before their eyes,
can examine equipment performance via holographic panels,
can view real-time alerts as heatmaps overlaid on the physical space.
On the VR side, engineers can:
take a ‘step inside’ a structure before it is built,
test transportation systems with different traffic density scenarios,
analyse topography from within, not above, for disaster planning.
In TwinUp’s approach, VR/AR integration is not just visualisation:
it is a decision support interface where real-time IoT data converges with the space.
Collaboration Reimagined: Multi-User Shared Twin Spaces
In the future, the digital twin experience will not be solitary.
In the shared VR/AR environments TwinUp aims to develop:
city managers,
engineers,
designers,
emergency teams
will be able to connect to the same digital twin space from different locations.
A traffic scenario, an energy breaking point or an infrastructure failure can be viewed and discussed simultaneously by everyone.
This shifts traditional meeting culture towards spatial collaboration.
Industry Applications: Practical Use Cases
1. City Management
• AR field inspections of underground infrastructure
• Disaster and evacuation simulations using VR
• Holographic display of CO₂ emission zones within the city.
2. Construction and Architecture
• Full-scale virtual walkthrough on VR model
• Instant 3D visualisation of material changes
• Error detection with AR layers on site
3. Industrial Facilities
• Step-by-step maintenance guidance with AR glasses
• Process simulation and employee training with VR
• Instant AR data overlays for critical equipment
4. Transportation Systems
• VR traffic flow testing
• AR route analysis
• Simulation-based transportation optimisation
Conclusion
Digital twins combined with VR/AR glasses are transforming the future into systems that are not only visualised but also experienced, touched and jointly managed.
At TwinUp, we are not merely following this transformation; we are building digital twin ecosystems that can be entered, analysed, and optimised in every environment, from cities to industrial facilities.
