3D Geolocated Digital Twins
Turn physical infrastructure into an interactive, sub-meter accurate replica anchored to real-world coordinates. Walk a refinery, a highway span, or a 40-storey core from a browser tab — no plugin, no workstation.
How it works
Capture
Fly the site with your own drones or book KatanaTech operators. Photogrammetry imagery and LiDAR sweeps come back as a dense point cloud with survey-grade GPS anchoring.
Fuse and geolocate
Captures are reconstructed into a textured mesh and pinned to a global coordinate system, so the twin sits on real terrain and lines up with every later capture of the same site.
Navigate and measure
The twin streams to any browser. Orbit, drop into first-person or FPV, step indoors, take distance and volume measurements, and hand the same scene to a VR headset.
Capabilities
Sub-meter accuracy
Photogrammetry and LiDAR fused into precisely geolocated space, so distance, area, and volume can be measured directly in the browser rather than exported to a desktop package.
Indoor and outdoor fusion
Move continuously from macro topography down to floorplans, HVAC runs, and individual machinery. Indoor levels are extruded as navigable floor layers rather than flat overlays.
Photorealistic global basemap
Cesium with Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles gives worldwide context around your capture, so a twin never floats on an empty plane even before your own survey lands.
XR and WebGL ready
Built on Three.js and React Three Fiber to render dense geometry natively in the browser, with a clean handover to WebXR headsets for immersive remote inspection.
BIM and CAD import
Bring in Revit, Autodesk, IFC, and glTF models to sit alongside captured reality — the basis for comparing as-designed intent against as-built condition.
Time-series comparison
Each capture is retained as a dated layer. Scrub between them to see how a site actually changed between surveys instead of relying on recollection.
Under the hood
- Render
- Mapbox GL v3 and Cesium, with Three.js / React Three Fiber
- Basemap
- Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles, terrain elevation, satellite
- Import
- glTF / GLB, IFC, Revit and Autodesk exports, OBJ, point clouds
- Modes
- Orbit, first-person, drone FPV, indoor navigation, WebXR / VR
- Delivery
- Streams to any WebGL browser — desktop, tablet, and headset
- Languages
- English and Arabic interface (next-intl)
Frequently asked questions
What is a geolocated 3D digital twin?
A geolocated 3D digital twin is a dimensionally accurate 3D replica of a physical site that is anchored to real-world coordinates. Because it sits in a global coordinate system rather than an arbitrary local one, every capture of that site aligns with every other, and sensor readings, assets, and drone flight paths can be placed at their true position inside the model.
How accurate is a Katana IoTwin twin?
Katana IoTwin twins are sub-meter accurate. Accuracy depends on capture method and flight parameters: LiDAR and low-altitude photogrammetry with ground control points produce the tightest results, while higher-altitude survey passes trade precision for coverage.
Do I need special software or a workstation to view it?
No. The twin streams to any WebGL-capable browser on desktop, tablet, or VR headset. There is no plugin to install and no CAD licence required for viewers, which is what lets stakeholders outside the engineering team actually look at the model.
Can I import existing BIM or CAD models?
Yes. Revit, Autodesk, IFC, and standard glTF/GLB models import directly into the 3D space. Placing a design model alongside captured reality is the basis for as-built verification and progress comparison.
How does this differ from a photogrammetry mesh in a desktop tool?
A mesh is a static output. A Katana IoTwin twin is a live operational surface: IoT telemetry, asset records, drone missions, and maintenance history all attach to positions inside it, and Miyamoto AI can query the whole thing in natural language.
Explore the rest of the platform
See it on your own site
Start a 30-day trial, or have KatanaTech operators run the capture and hand you a finished twin.