Outdoor LiDAR Digital Twin: From iPhone Scan to Virtual Garden
Landscape design decisions are difficult to communicate with 2D drawings. The LiDAR sensor in iPhone 12 Pro and later can scan exterior spaces in minutes to create accurate 3D models — enabling owners and landscape architects to visualize and refine designs before any soil is turned.
Step 1: LiDAR Scanning with iPhone
Recommended apps: Polycam (free tier, exports OBJ/E57/LAS), Scaniverse (free, up to 100m², exports PLY/OBJ). Walk slowly (~0.5 m/s) around the space with ≥30% overlap between passes. Scan under overcast sky to minimize direct sunlight noise. Accuracy: ±2–5 cm at 5m — sufficient for landscape-scale design.
Step 2: PointCloud Processing in CloudCompare
Free open-source CloudCompare cleans the scan: Statistical Outlier Removal (k=20, σ=2) removes noise; subsampling to ~1 point/cm reduces file size; RANSAC ground plane extraction separates terrain from vegetation. Export as OBJ + texture for Twinmotion.
Step 3: Twinmotion Import and Design
Twinmotion 2024+ imports OBJ directly at 1:1 scale. Apply terrain materials matching actual conditions, populate with Thai vegetation from the Twinmotion Library (palms, banyan, mango), and set Sun Path coordinates to Bangkok (13.7°N, 100.5°E) for accurate shadow simulation.
Step 4: Sun Path Analysis for Bangkok Climate
With year-round intense sun, correct plant and shade structure placement has major comfort and energy implications. Twinmotion Sun Study identifies areas receiving >6 hours/day (ideal for vegetable gardens), shadow zones from the building (ideal for shade-loving plants or seating), and roof solar radiation for PV potential estimation.
Step 5: Plant Growth Simulation
Twinmotion vegetation growth parameters let you preview tree canopy size at 5 and 10 years — critical for planning clearance from roof structures, power lines, and foundations, and for ensuring future shade coverage aligns with design intent.
Cost and Time
Entire workflow — scan, process, design — costs nothing beyond iPhone hardware: Polycam (free tier), CloudCompare (free), Twinmotion (free for personal use). Time investment: 3–5 hours for a 200m² garden from scan to photorealistic renders.