How Limina Studios Preserves History With Digital Twins

About Limina Studios

Alongside their many accolades, Limina Studios is also the winner of the 2023 Digital Twin Awards historical category. Every year, this event celebrates the best in virtual tour innovation, recognizing only a few companies among the hundreds of submissions.

Continue reading to learn more about the team’s winning project and how their work is helping to preserve history for generations to come. 

Limina Studio’s Winning Virtual Tour

The Royal Commission for AlUla contracted Limina Studios to create a virtual tour of the ancient city of AIUIa — an oasis in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia. Located in the Hejaz region, AlUla is significant in Islamic and pre-Islamic Semitic history. 

Using the Pro 3 camera, the team captured five main sites: Old Town, Elephant Rock, the Tomb of Lihyan, Jabal Al Banat, and Jabal Ithlab. To work around site limitations, the team took scans during different times of the day, creating the sensation of time passing as the viewer virtually goes through the city. 

On the virtual tour, visitors can walk up to a fort for a stunning view of Old Town, head down to the bustling marketplace, or even stumble upon Dar Tanotora, a beautiful hotel on the other side of town.

^{Experience the AIUIa virtual tour here}

“I want our visitors to leave the experience with a sense of wonder and the sentiment that they’ve uncovered a hidden treasure, inspired to learn more or even visit in person,” said Farhad. “AlUla is a truly unique place, and we feel that sparking curiosity and an appreciation of the site is a special accomplishment.”

And the project did more than just drive an interest in the historical site. “The response we received was far beyond our expectations, engaging thousands of visitors, both onsite and remotely,” Farhad added. 

The Importance of Historical Preservation: How Digital Twins Help

Digital twins enable teams to virtually preserve and protect vital sites just like AIUIa that may otherwise be inaccessible to people. They document places with extraordinary significance that won’t last forever, creating a copy that will. This way, people from all over the world and all walks of life can experience history right at their fingertips.

The digital scan of AIUIa is a living museum, showcasing ancient tombs, sandstone formations, historic dwellings, and monuments that reflect 200,000 years of human history. 

^{Experience the AIUIa virtual tour here}

“We took great care to replicate the mesmerizing experience of standing in front of Elephant Rock, and to capture the intricate details of the tombs in Hegra — experiences that were previously only available if you traveled to the actual site,” said Farhad.

Outside of documenting important sites, the technology makes processes much more efficient — a win-win for everyone involved. 

“The integration of Matterport digital twins into our operations has meaningfully enhanced our business, moving beyond producing virtual tours into more efficient production, with remote collaboration informing project planning and streamlining teamwork,” said Farhad. “The ability to interact seamlessly with our clients and partners remotely has proved invaluable to our business and our ability to serve clients.”

Looking Forward

Even after winning the historical category for the 2023 Digital Twin Awards, Limina Studios isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The team has always created visually appealing projects, and the introduction of 3D experiences has allowed them to inject greater meaning and more engaging interactions into their work. 

Pushing creative and technological boundaries is at the core of our work at Limina Studios. From our base in Dubai, we’ve been able to extend our expertise to clients in oil & gas, historical sites, real estate, retail, and more,” said Farhad. “We thrive on projects that require deep research and collaboration, getting to the heart of our client’s goals and producing unique 3D experiences that use novel techniques to solve problems and create immersive narratives.”

Whether their clients are seeking to enhance customer engagement through virtual tours, preserve historic sites digitally, or visualize complex infrastructure, the Limina Studios team is excited to continue changing the industry one scan at a time.  See more of their work or connect with their team today.