Many companies face the ongoing challenge of operating and maintaining their assets efficiently. Traditional methods for creating digital models—such as 3D laser scanning—are often expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to scale. In addition, the resulting models frequently lack interactivity, limiting their usefulness in day-to-day operations.

This is where the research project iDZ-2025 comes in. Led by Innomatik AG in collaboration with the Nuremberg Institute of Technology Georg Simon Ohm, the project is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the KMU-innovativ initiative. Its goal is to make photorealistic digital twins both more efficient to produce and more interactive to use.

Instead of relying on costly laser scanners, the project is developing an innovative geometry-free image synthesis process based on visually guided photo and video capture using mobile cameras. This approach enables the rapid, cost-effective creation of large-scale 3D models that are visually consistent, highly immersive, and photorealistic. The resulting digital twins are not only visually striking but also fully interactive and compatible with XR (Extended Reality) technologies.

Another key focus of the project is the integration of live data, videos, documents, and dashboards directly into the digital models. This will make everyday tasks for facility managers much easier, allowing them to perform inspections, maintenance, and optimizations in real time.

Once the project is completed in 2025, the technologies developed through iDZ-2025 will be made available to the market—providing companies with a powerful new platform for facility management.

With iDZ-2025, the project aims to take a major step forward in enabling more efficient, cost-effective, and interactive digital twins—paving the way for a lasting transformation in the way buildings are managed.

Picture: Framence GmbH