ENTERPRISE IOT PLATFORM AND A DIGITAL TWIN VISUALISATION SOLUTION

What we did

Architectural Design

Prototyping

Conception

Custom Software Development

3D Modeling

IoT Software Development

Data Visualization

Integrations

Digital twin solution

In a nutshell

We spearheaded the development of an enterprise-level IoT product and digital twin solution called Empathic Building for Tietoevry and Haltian, covering four key sectors: property management and office environments, hospital operations, and warehouse management. Our team was responsible for the end-to-end concept design, development, and continuous improvement of the product. We delivered a solution that included architectural design, the creation of a scalable IoT backend system using Python, and several advanced web applications built with React.

Empathic Building has played a big role for Haltian, which has raised 40 million euros from leading venture capital funds in Finland and internationally. Our close collaboration includes the first four years with Tietoevry, followed by another four years with Haltian, encompassing extensive technical projects. The product has been sold in at least 16 countries, with notable clients such as Telia, the National Health Service (UK), Uniper (Germany), Telefonica (Spain), and Shimizu Corporation (Japan).

The challenge - A visionary idea in a new space

In 2016, the concept of visualizing invisible building data for end-users was virtually unheard of. We partnered with Tietoevry’s startup incubator to bring this futuristic idea to life. Our goal was to create an innovative solution that would allow end-users of buildings—whether offices, hospitals, or warehouses—to interact with real-time data, improving navigation and usability.

With no existing frameworks or products to build upon, we were tasked with creating a pioneering solution from scratch.

The Solution - From concept to launch in 6 months

In six months, we designed, developed, and delivered a fully functioning Minimum Viable Product (MVP) delivered to customers. This MVP was showcased at Slush 2016, one of the largest international technology and startup events. Achieving this required us to:

Innovate on the technical front: Without pre-existing models to follow, we developed entirely new approaches for key product features. One of the central challenges was efficiently visualizing buildings in a browser environment. Using our proprietary game engine, we enabled rapid rendering of building layouts with minimal memory usage and fast load times, ensuring a smooth user experience.

Building a flexible data architecture: We designed a versatile, extensible data model to represent detailed information about buildings, including formats for integrating data from IoT sensors. This architecture was scalable and allowed the seamless integration of new sensor data and additional building parameters over time.

Throughout the development process, end-user experience remained a core focus. Every feature and technical decision was geared toward ensuring ease of use, speed, and relevance for end-users.

Key innovation: Empathic Building – A first-of-its-kind user interface for building data

Empathic Building revolutionized the way end-users interact with their physical workspace. It visualizes real-time data from IoT sensors to offer users an intuitive interface where they can:

Navigate and optimize workspace use: Users can see which rooms, desks, or areas are currently occupied or available. The system provides future reservations and availability details, allowing employees to plan their workdays more effectively.

Integrate with existing systems: By pulling data from multiple IoT sensors, cloud services like Microsoft Office365, and real-time location services (RTLS), the solution offers a cohesive view of the building's status in one centralized platform.

Contribute to building management: End-users can leave feedback, report issues, and request services at specific locations within the building. This user-driven input enables faster maintenance and more responsive facility management, improving the overall work environment.

Impact on facility management: Granular data for smarter decisions

For facility managers, Empathic Building offers a detailed, data-driven view of space usage, which can be customized based on the type of building, whether it's an office, hospital, or warehouse. Key benefits include:

Real-time and historical usage reports: Facility managers can generate reports on the usage patterns of floors, individual desks, rooms, and common areas. This level of granularity enables informed decisions about space optimization, energy usage, and future planning.

Multi-sector applicability: The solution’s flexibility means it can be tailored to various sectors and use cases, offering valuable insights to businesses of all types. From improving employee collaboration in offices to streamlining operations in warehouses, Empathic Building adapts to diverse environments.

Conclusion: A pioneering IoT SaaS solution

Empathic Building marked a breakthrough in visualizing and utilizing building data, with real benefits for both end-users and facility managers. By combining cutting-edge technology with user-centric design, we successfully delivered an innovative IoT SaaS product that redefined how people interact with and manage their physical spaces. This project not only set new standards for IoT in the built environment but also laid the foundation for future advancements in smart building solutions.

About the client

We have been Tietoevry's and Haltian's close partners for the past 4 years in creating Empathic Building. Haltian is a Finnish IoT company specialising in making simple and effective IoT technology to streamline everyday working life. Haltian’s Empathic Building solution is part of their SaaS offering, covering different use cases in office, hospital and warehouse environments, where visualization of IoT data is of paramount interest to the end-users of the building. To date, Haltian has raised 40 million euros in funding. The Empathic Building solution is trusted by companies globally. Customers include companies such as Uniper (DE), Telefonica (ES), Shimizu Corporation (JP), Telia (SE) & National Health Service (UK).