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KVL Digital Twin
Digital Twin Platform · 2026
Built at the KAUST Visualization Core Lab

KVL Digital Twin Platform
Turn any data into a 3D world.

Load a base 3D model, attach your data to points in space, open live web views in 3D — on Desktop and in VR.

3D · 360 · Webview Desktop + VR Built at KVL
A person in a VR headset exploring a 3D coral-reef digital twin
01 · Title
Shamal × KVL
See it · live in the tool

The platform — in action.

Drop in a base world, attach media and data to points in space, pull from a prefab library — all in one 3D scene. This is the real authoring tool, today.

02 · Preview
Shamal × KVL
What it is

Put your data inside a 3D world.

Teams have models, data and media — but no simple way to bring them together in one explorable space. The platform does exactly that.

Base model→ Hotspots→ 3D web views→ Desktop & VR
Anything that works in a browser, now in 3D. Attach data to points in space, explore on desktop or in VR.
Platform UI — a video data-station attached to a point inside a 3D scanned environment
03 · What it is
Shamal × KVL
Runs everywhere

One environment. Every screen.

The platform serves the same world to whatever screen fits — desktop to full immersion.

VR HMDs CUBES · CAVE Big-screen walls Web Desktop
Platform authoring tool on desktop — a 3D scene with media stations and the model library open
Desktop & webThe full authoring tool in a browser window.
Platform scene in glasses-free 3D, popping off a zSpace workstation
Glasses-free 3DDepth you can see without a headset, on zSpace.
Platform coral-reef environment shown immersively on the CUBES / CAVE wall
CUBES · CAVEThe same scene wrapped around you — fully immersive.
04 · Runs everywhere
Shamal × KVL
Why this is worth it

A 3D model isn't valuable as a model —
it's the foundation everything else plugs into.

Build it once — it pays off four ways.

♻️
Build once

One asset, many uses

Research, safety, showcase, ops — all on the same campus.

📡
Live data

The anchor, not a render

Bind live data and it becomes a decision tool, not a pretty model.

🌐
Web-native

Anything in a browser, in 3D

Dashboards, web apps and live data placed right inside the scene.

🎯
Fit

Low cost, high value

Built on tools teams already use — no heavy new stack to adopt.

The catch: a model with no data is a screensaver. Value = model × live data × a real workflow.
05 · Why it's good
Shamal × KVL
What the platform does today

Not a concept —
a working authoring tool.

🌐Core

3D webview in the scene

Any browser content — dashboards, web apps, live data — placed inside the 3D space.

📦

Import 3D models

Including animations & rigs — not just static meshes.

🖼️

360° photos & videos

Immersive panoramas dropped straight into the environment.

🎞️

2D photos & videos

Flat media as in-world panels and references.

🌅

Swappable skybox

Change the surrounding environment per scene.

📍

Pins & hotspots

Attach data and content to points in space.

🎥

Camera moves & transforms

Set camera paths and per-object position/rotation/scale.

📏

Scale & measurement

Measure real distances inside the 3D model.

🧩

Prefab library

Ready-to-use assets (marine/visual today) — growing with each project.

06 · What it does today
Shamal × KVL
Platform roadmap

The platform already exists —
here's where it goes.

Built on the KVL Digital Twin Platform: a base model with data hotspots, viewable on Desktop and VR. The campus scan just gives it more to show.

NOW June 2026
Internal release · feedback
▸ Small release to the team & close friends
▸ Goal: real, usable feedback on the platform
▸ Harden the loader, hotspots & VR flow on real users
◉ This month
NEXT Late July 2026
Collaborators · first projects
▸ Open to collaborators outside KVL — Beacon partners & others
▸ Land first real projects — visualization first, no live data yet
▸ Deliver those first projects end-to-end
◷ Planned
LATER After first projects
Product · scale out
▸ Package as a KVL product, then add live data
▸ Roll out at KVL, then Saudi universities & beyond
▸ Global — if value is validated for researchers & tools are in
◇ Vision
07 · Roadmap
Shamal × KVL
First flagship environment

Introducing KAUST 3D.

The entire campus — captured in full 3D, running inside the platform.

08 · KAUST 3D
Shamal × KVL
The 3D model · up close

Real geometry — raw scan to live data.

KAUST 3D with live data hotspots and dashboards
Live data in 3DHotspots & readouts on the campus model.
KAUST 3D operating dashboard — sensors and layers
Operating pictureSensors, layers & status — one view.
KAUST campus point cloud — the raw scan
Point cloudThe raw scan — millions of points.

Raw drone footage

great for visualization
Drone capture — villas, frame 1 › Drone capture — villas, frame 2 › Drone capture — villas, frame 3

Ultra-high-res aerial captured by Shamal — valuable on its own for inspection, mapping and visualization.

09 · KAUST 3D · up close
Shamal × KVL
The arrangement with Shamal

Shamal scans & processes it.
We bring it to life.

The 3D mesh of KAUST is scanned and fully processed by Shamal — the geometry is theirs. We load it into the platform and, per project, add the experience on top.

Shamal The base mesh

Shamal delivers the 3D

Drone scanning + full processing → a finished 3D mesh of KAUST. We don't fly, scan or process — and it comes to us at no cost, no risk.

Saudi-owned · Jeddah HQ
KVL The experience

We bring it to life

Per project we layer on visual effects, water, weather & lighting, plus live data integration & visualization — all inside the platform.

In short: the mesh is Shamal's, free of cost. The platform, the experience and the data are ours.
10 · KAUST 3D · the deal
Shamal × KVL
Who would use it · research

Built for the labs that already need a real KAUST.

One shared model — enabled by KVL visualization & AR/VR support.

📡
01 · Wireless & digital twins

Indoor/outdoor RF · ISAC · 5G/6G

Labs already build these — and need real campus geometry to anchor them.

🚁
02 · Autonomy & robotics

Drones, swarms & UAV networks

Flight planning, swarm coordination and infrastructure inspection on the actual site.

🌆
03 · Visualization & smart city

Urban, geospatial & AR/VR

Large-scale analytics and smart-city / IoT apps on one canonical campus.

11 · Research uses
Shamal × KVL
Beyond research · operations already asking

Not just research —
the campus operating picture.

Operations teams have already asked for this twin with their live data in it — open to anyone who wants to run simulations.

⛑️
Safety & Emergency Mgmt

Train on the real buildings

Evacuation, incident response and drills on actual geometry — not improvised floorplans.

→ asked for live alarm / occupancy feeds
🏗️
Facilities Management

Space, assets & maintenance

SCAN-to-BIM interiors plus live building systems, all on one model.

→ asked "with our live data in it?"
🛡️
Security & Ops

One spatial picture

Cameras, access and telemetry overlaid in 3D — not thirty dashboards.

→ asked for sensor feeds in 3D
Sources ccsl.kaust.edu.sa/digital-twin-indoor · /digital-twin-outdoor · corelabs.kaust.edu.sa/labs/visualization · vcc.kaust.edu.sa · cemse.kaust.edu.sa/topics/smart-cities
12 · Operations
Shamal × KVL