🎓 I attended the IHBC-recognised STBA and IHBC CPD webinar “3D Scanning, Heritage BIM (Building Information Modelling) and the evolving role of AI for traditional and historic buildings” on 26 September 2025, receiving up to one hour of recognised CPD, and this article sets out how I will apply the learning in a measured, phased way in Northern Ireland.
🏛️ The session positioned conservation practice as evidence led, with IHBC introducing its UK-wide professional remit and STBA outlining its responsible-retrofit focus and guidance resources, a useful backdrop for choosing the right level of digital capture per building and per decision.
🧭 Presenters Nick Blenkarn and Professor David Heesom walked through fast web-shareable capture, higher-accuracy laser scanning, and HBIM uses, which helped me map capabilities I have today and those I will develop through pilots and partner collaborations.
📸 For now, my first step on most heritage briefs is orientation-grade, image-based capture and remote walkthroughs, a lightweight method that helps stakeholders understand constraints, plan access, and reduce unnecessary site revisits before commissioning heavier survey effort when the decision requires it.
🧱 The webinar clarified that scan-to-BIM is still a deliberate, manual process that traces model geometry over the point cloud, which reinforced my plan to scope higher-accuracy tasks carefully and, when needed, bring in accredited survey partners rather than attempt everything in-house on day one.
📐 HBIM was framed as a long-running evolution of BIM applied to historic fabric, active in research and practice since about 2009, with UK guidance available, which I will reference when shaping information requirements and deciding where a simple model ends and an information-rich HBIM begins.
🧩 A key mindset shift for me is to treat the model as an information container, not only geometry, linking archives and oral histories to specific spaces and elements so choices are traceable, an approach illustrated in the Wolverhampton market-street case.
🚚 The translocation example at Avoncroft Museum showed how unique IDs, QR or barcodes, and a simple database can track each component from dismantling to pallet and reconstruction, a robust workflow I can adapt with partners when projects demand that level of control.
🛰️ I also learned where SLAM, handheld units, terrestrial scanners, and drone photogrammetry each fit, including their limits, for example SLAM struggling on feature-poor spiral stairs and the need for tripod scans as a backbone, insights I will apply by choosing the right partner or rental path when accuracy and access justify it.
🏗️ The “multimodal mosaic” idea, where different datasets are reconciled into a coordinated whole, is the direction I plan to move toward through pilot projects, starting with scoped externals and interiors and then, as needed, augmenting with specialist capture to prepare data that is HBIM-ready.
🧠 On AI, I took a pragmatic view from the webinar, use it where it reduces error or time, such as colour balancing or change detection, while keeping provenance visible, a rule I will apply to any future automation in heritage contexts.
🔎 Digital twin terminology was clarified, with a useful distinction between a visual “digital shadow” and a twin that both reads and affects the physical asset, which guides how I describe current capabilities and plan staged integrations with web viewers and sensors when a project truly requires it.
🧰 In practice for clients, my present offer focuses on consultative scoping, orientation-grade capture, and stakeholder walkthroughs, then, if tolerances, compliance or risk call for it, I will propose a partner-delivered measured survey and model production aligned to HBIM guidelines, with all sources and decisions documented for audit.
🚀 Last week’sDigital Twin SME Network eventatGlandore Belfast, hosted byDigital Catapult, wasn’t just a gathering—it was a launchpad for Northern Ireland’s ambitions to lead the global digital twin revolution.
As the Founder ofDigital Strada, I’m honored to share insights from this transformative event and outline how our company’s cutting-edge research aligns with theUK Digital Twin Centre’svision.
🌍The UK Digital Twin Centre: A Game-Changer for Industry
Slated for launch in early 2025 with £37.6m in funding, the UK Digital Twin Centre (UKDTC) represents a seismic shift in how industries like aerospace, maritime, and smart cities will leverage virtual replicas. Backed by Belfast Region City Deal, Innovate UK, and Invest Northern Ireland, the Centre aims to:
Reduce development costsby 30% through shared infrastructure and AI-driven workflows.
Accelerate prototypingfor complex systems like offshore wind farms and autonomous vessels.
Train 500+ professionalsin digital twin deployment by 2026.
For Digital Strada, this initiative dovetails with our core work in 3D laser scanning, BIM integration, and drone-captured asset ecosystems. But we’re pushing even further—exploring next-gen technologies like Gaussian Splatting and Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) to redefine reality capture.
🏢Delivering Value Today: Digital Strada’s Client-Driven Innovations
While advancing next-gen tools, we’re already deploying 3D laser scanning and reality capture to solve real-world challenges for clients across sectors:
1. Hospitality & Retail: Immersive Virtual Experiences By capturing accurate 3D models of hotels, restaurants, and retail spaces, we empower clients to:
Createvirtual toursthat boost booking conversions by up to 30%.
Safety auditsvia AI-analyzed point clouds to identify hazards like structural cracks or improper equipment placement.
3. Asset Management: Future-Proofing Investments For facilities managers, we can deliver digital twins that:
Map HVAC and electrical systems in 3D, cutting maintenance downtime by 40%.
Simulate flood/fire scenarios to optimize emergency response plans.
Integrate IoT data streams (e.g., energy usage, occupancy sensors) for predictive analytics.
These projects underscore how reality capture isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a bridge between physical and digital worlds, driving ROI today while laying groundwork for tomorrow’s AI-augmented twins.
💡Beyond Traditional 3D Modeling: Digital Strada’s R&D Frontier
While traditional photogrammetry and LiDAR remain staples, we’re pioneering advanced techniques to solve critical industry challenges:
1. Gaussian Splatting for Dynamic Environments
Unlike static mesh models, Gaussian Splatting enables real-time rendering of complex scenes by representing objects as millions of anisotropic 3D Gaussians. This approach, refined in our Belfast labs, allows:
Faster processingof drone-captured data for large-scale infrastructure projects.
Seamless integrationwith IoT sensor streams for live digital twin updates.
2. Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF)
Our experiments with NeRF—a deep learning method that synthesizes novel views from 2D images—are unlocking:
Photorealistic virtual walkthroughsfor real estate and hospitality clients.
Material property inference(e.g., thermal conductivity, structural stress) from visual data alone.
Lighting-agnostic modelsthat perform reliably in low-light industrial settings.
3. 3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Fields
Building on SIGGRAPH 2023 breakthroughs, we’re researching on how to adapt 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) to achieve >100 FPS rendering of radiance fields—a leap critical for applications like:
The Centre’s£61m economic impact and 230 high-skilled jobs forecast by 2033 align with our mission to position Belfast as a global deep-tech hub.
🌱Sustainability Through Innovation
Digital twins aren’t just about efficiency—they’re a climate imperative. By partnering with the UKDTC, we aim to:
Cut construction wasteby 25% via AI-optimized BIM workflows.
Reduce maritime emissionsthrough digital twin-guided route planning.
Extend asset lifespansusing predictive maintenance models trained on Gaussian-splatted data.
🔮The Road Ahead: Strategic Pathways for 3D Digital Twin Innovation
As the UK Digital Twin Centre gains momentum, Digital Strada is pursuing multiple routes to advance next-generation digital twin technologies while fostering market-ready solutions:
Academic-Industry Synergy By partnering with leading institutions in the tech sector, we’re refining neural rendering techniques likeNeRF optimizationto bridge the gap between theoretical research and industrial applications. These collaborations aim to solve challenges such as real-time data processing and adaptive model training for dynamic environments.
Sector-Specific Commercialization We’re targeting high-impact industries for pilot projects, including:
Retail: Developing real-time inventory tracking systems using 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) and drone-captured 360° scans.
Construction: Integrating radiance field rendering with BIM workflows to detect design clashes and reduce material waste.
Energy: Deploying physics-informed NeRF models to simulate infrastructure stress under extreme weather conditions.
Democratizing Advanced Tools To accelerate industry-wide adoption, we’re exploring open-source frameworks that simplify Gaussian Splatting workflows for SMEs. This includes modular codebases for photogrammetry-NeRF hybrid pipelines and lightweight 3DGS libraries optimized for GPU-limited environments.
These pathways not only strengthen Northern Ireland’s position in the global digital twin ecosystem but also create scalable, interoperable solutions that address urgent needs in sustainability, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
🔗 Join the Revolution The future of digital twins is bright, interconnected, and built right here in Belfast.
Explore the UK Digital Twin Centre’s vision and after that choose to connect with us to learn how Gaussian Splatting and NeRF can transform your operations on top of 3D Laser Scanning and other Reality Capture assets.
🌐 At Digital Strada, we’re not just building digital twins—we’re engineering tomorrow’s reality. 🏗️💻
Advancing Digital Twin Technology 🔮
Digital Strada’s expertise in creating immersive, 4K-resolution, photo-realistic 3D digital twins for hotels, restaurants, venues, and various other building types aligns perfectly with the region’s focus on digital innovation. 🏨
Our technology has the potential to contribute significantly to the UK Digital Twin Centre recently announced for Belfast, which aims to revolutionize how industries develop products, services, and systems across the UK.
Growth and Innovation through Immersive Software 📊
🚀 As we embark on this journey, I’m filled with enthusiasm for the future of Northern Ireland’s software industry. At Digital Strada, we’re at the forefront of 3D Digital Twins technology, and I believe our perspective will be valuable in shaping the sector’s future.
🎉 Help your customers to Experience Immersive Communication with a Digital Twin for your hotel, resort, restaurant, museum, factory, real estate project or space.
☎️ Leave a comment with your business and let’s connect to deliver a 3D Digital Twin Solution for your Facility Managemnt Team.
🚀 Exciting news from the heart of Belfast’s tech scene! As the Founder of Digital Strada, I had the privilege of attending the Software NI Working Group at Allstate Northern Ireland. Our focus? The crucial Sector Futures (Economic and Societal Impact) initiative, which is set to shape the future of Northern Ireland’s software industry.
🌟 The event was part of Software NI’s ambitious “50 and Five by 35” strategic vision, launched earlier this year. This forward-thinking approach aims to drive our industry forward through dedicated Working Groups, each tackling key areas of development.
Software NI’s mission 🌟
🏛️ At the core of Software NI’s mission is a three-point advocacy manifesto. First, they’re pushing for dedicated focus on the software industry across all relevant economic policies through a cross-departmental government forum. Second, they’re advocating for closer cooperation between education and industry to develop our software workforce from an early age. Finally, they’re calling for robust investment and entrepreneurial support to fuel growth for software companies in Northern Ireland.
Sector Futures Working Group 🚀
🔍 The Sector Futures Working Group, which I’m now proud to be a part of, is one of four key groups established. Alongside Education, Skills, and Sales and Scale, we’re tasked with establishing and maintaining strategic insights for our specific focus area.
📊 Our responsibilities include assessing the current status of the sector, identifying gaps, challenges, and opportunities, and proposing potential routes for improvement. We’ll be engaging with stakeholders across industry, academia, education, government, and community to ensure a comprehensive approach.
🤝 What’s particularly exciting is the collaborative nature of this initiative. Each Working Group has two Board Sponsors who support the Group Leader in managing and articulating our key areas. This structure ensures a strong connection between the working groups and the Software NI Board.
💼 As a Working Group member, I’m looking forward to the benefits this role brings. We’ll have access to a supportive and professional industry-focused Board, an expanded professional network, and opportunities for personal development. It’s a chance to increase our professional profiles while making a real impact on the software industry in Northern Ireland.
⏰ The commitment is significant but manageable – approximately two days per month. Our role is to be the voice of the industry in our focus area, gathering and articulating common needs and issues. We’ll be representing our sector to industry peers and external partners, demonstrating passion, collaboration, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
Advancing Digital Twin Technology 🔮
Digital Strada’s expertise in creating immersive, 4K-resolution, photo-realistic 3D digital twins for hotels, restaurants, venues, and various other building types aligns perfectly with the region’s focus on digital innovation. 🏨
Our technology has the potential to contribute significantly to the UK Digital Twin Centre recently announced for Belfast, which aims to revolutionize how industries develop products, services, and systems across the UK.
Commitment to Northern Ireland’s Tech Ecosystem 🌿
As a member of Software NI, we are committed to playing our part in establishing Northern Ireland as a global centre of software excellence. 🌍
We believe our specialized focus on 3D Digital Twins, virtual tours, and immersive experiences will contribute to the diverse and innovative software landscape that Software NI is fostering. 🕶️
Growth and Innovation through Immersive Software 📊
🚀 As we embark on this journey, I’m filled with enthusiasm for the future of Northern Ireland’s software industry. At Digital Strada, we’re at the forefront of 3D Digital Twins technology, and I believe our perspective will be valuable in shaping the sector’s future. Together with my fellow Working Group members, we’re committed to driving growth, fostering innovation, and maximizing the economic and societal impact of our thriving tech ecosystem. 🔮 Stay tuned for updates as we work towards making Northern Ireland a global hub for software excellence. The future is bright, and it’s being built right here in Belfast!
About Software NI 🔭
Software NI was established in 2022 by a group of independent companies as the representative body for software engineering companies in Northern Ireland.
Founding member companies have underwritten the organisation for its first three years of operation as it works towards an independent, fully sustainable industry funded model. The founding member companies are:
As a not-for-profit organisation, we exist to champion the NI software sector which contributes £1.7 billion annually and employs 23,000 people across approximately 2,200 businesses. We work with key decision makers to create the best conditions for people and companies in the sector. This includes the areas of Education, Skills, Sales and the future of the sector itself.
Vision
Our50 and 5 by 35vision is to double the Software job footprint in NI to 50,000 jobs by 2035, at which point we estimate the software industry will contribute around £5 billion in Gross Value Added to our local economy.
Mission Statement:
“We are the voice of the software industry in Northern Ireland. We exist to lobby and support strategy and policy development to ensure that Northern Ireland becomes the world leading region for innovative software businesses leading to a sustainable and prosperous economic future.”
Looking Ahead 🔭
We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as we integrate into the Software NI community. 🌠
Our team is eager to collaborate with fellow members, share our expertise, and contribute to the growth of Northern Ireland’s software sector. 🤓
By joining forces with Software NI, Digital Strada is not just expanding its network; we are actively participating in shaping the future of technology in Northern Ireland. 🔮
We look forward to this new chapter and the innovative solutions we will create together. 💡
🎉 Help your customers to Experience Immersive Communication with a Digital Twin for your hotel, resort, restaurant, museum, factory, real estate project or space.
☎️ Leave a comment with your business and let’s connect to deliver a 3D Digital Twin Solution for your Facility Managemnt Team.
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