Treedis CEO Omer Shamay speaks to The XR Beat about turning digital twins into operational tools, connecting workers to site knowledge, AI-assisted workflows and where AR, VR and smart glasses fit in industry.
For industrial companies, building a digital twin is only the beginning.
Factories, ports and other complex sites already have maintenance systems, work orders, asset records, standard operating procedures, IoT data and years of knowledge stored across documents and experienced workers.
Treedis is trying to bring more of that information into the physical context of the site. Its platform combines digital twins with connected-worker tools, AR, VR, workflow guidance, AI and integrations with existing enterprise systems.
The conversation also informed an earlier XRB analysis, Industrial Digital Twins Need to Do More Than Look Real, which looked at why industrial digital twins need to connect workers with procedures, asset data and operational context rather than stop at visualisation.
The XR Beat spoke with Treedis CEO and co-founder Omer Shamay recently. We asked him what makes a digital twin operational, where AR and VR fit into industrial work, how AI can help workers access site knowledge and why technology still has to fit the way people actually work.
Shamay is the CEO and co-founder of Treedis, which develops digital twin, connected-worker and immersive technology tools for industrial and enterprise environments.
The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
What Turns a Digital Twin Into an Operational Tool?
A visual walkthrough is where a digital twin starts. Treedis turns the site into a working interface.
Instead of only seeing the plant, production line, machine or room, workers can understand what is there, what needs to be done, which asset they are looking at and what action to take next.
For an industrial buyer, the 3D model is only one part of the system. The physical site can be connected directly to the work happening inside it.
Once work orders, asset data, procedures, IoT readings and on-site guidance are connected, the digital twin becomes operational.
A worker can avoid jumping between a PDF, a maintenance system, a dashboard and someone on the phone. The digital twin provides the context that brings information to the location, asset and task.
Workers can move more quickly from seeing a problem to understanding what they need to do next.
Which Industrial Workflows Are Best Suited to Connected Workers?
The strongest use cases are maintenance, inspections, safety, training and operations.
These workflows often require location-based information, repeatable procedures and confidence that someone is completing the right step in the right place.
Engineering teams can also benefit, especially when they need to understand a site remotely or work together around proposed changes.
The biggest day-to-day impact often comes from the workers and engineers physically responsible for keeping the site running.
How Does Treedis Fit Around Existing Enterprise Systems?
Most industrial companies already have systems such as SAP, Maximo, IoT dashboards, document libraries, P&IDs and training content.
Treedis isn’t trying to replace those systems. We connect them to the field.
The digital twin becomes a visual and spatial interface. A worker can access the correct system, document, asset data or workflow from the location where the work is happening.
Industrial teams have already invested heavily in their existing technology. The aim is to make those systems easier to access during the job, rather than asking companies to build another isolated information silo.
Where Do AR and VR Fit in Industrial Work?
AR works well when someone needs guidance while remaining inside the physical environment.
It can provide step-by-step instructions, identify equipment, support wayfinding, confirm which asset someone is looking at or display live information in context.
The aim is to reduce uncertainty. A worker standing in front of a machine needs clear answers: Am I in the right place? Is this the correct asset? What do I do next?
VR suits a different set of jobs.
Training, simulation, onboarding and remote familiarisation are strong applications, especially when someone needs to practise a procedure or understand a site before entering a high-risk or complex environment.
AR suits people who are already on site and need support while doing the work.
Phones and tablets remain a natural starting point because workers already know how to use them. Smart glasses become valuable when maintenance, inspection, troubleshooting or safety-critical work requires both hands.
I see phones and tablets as the adoption bridge, with smart glasses following for workflows where hands-free access creates real value.
How Are AI and Faster Workflow Creation Changing Digital Twins?
AI can turn the digital twin into an environment workers can ask questions about.
Instead of searching through long PDFs, SOPs or training material, someone can ask for the correct procedure, the next step or an answer to a site-specific query.
With Treedis AI, the aim is to make knowledge available at the point of work. The digital twin provides context around the place, asset and workflow, while AI can help turn documents and existing knowledge into practical guidance.
Content creation is another major part of the scaling problem.
TiFlows reduces the time and effort required to create guided workflows. A team can take material such as a video, PDF or digital-twin recording and turn it into a structured workflow more quickly.
Content creation can hold back rollout because companies may have large libraries of existing procedures without the time or resources to rebuild each one manually.
Faster workflow creation can help companies expand beyond an initial pilot by making content production cheaper and more repeatable.
What Slows Worker Adoption?
One of the biggest barriers appears when technology forces people to change the way they work.
Adoption becomes difficult when workers have to learn a completely new process, duplicate information or move between disconnected systems.
Our approach is usually based around digitising and improving a process that already exists. The maintenance process, safety procedure, inspection workflow or training programme is already there. We make it easier to execute, access and document.
Integrations are important because organisations already trust systems such as SAP, Maximo, IoT platforms, document repositories and reporting tools.
Treedis can connect those systems through a visual, location-aware experience. Workers continue using information from systems the organisation already relies on, while accessing it in a simpler way.
Trust grows when workers see an immediate benefit. Finding information faster, completing tasks more efficiently and avoiding mistakes can encourage adoption without completely rewriting the job.
Will Digital Twins Be Judged More by What Workers Can Do With Them?
Absolutely.
Visual quality still has a role because people need to recognise and trust the environment. Customers will increasingly judge digital twins by outcomes.
Can the system help a worker complete a task? Can it reduce downtime? Can it improve safety, speed up training or make knowledge easier to access?
At Ashdod Port, the aim was to connect assets, operational information and workflows within the context of a complex working site.
Teams could navigate the facility, locate assets and access relevant operational information within the digital twin. The project was designed to reduce friction between people, equipment, information and day-to-day operations.
Digital twins are developing into work execution platforms. Their long-term value will depend on how effectively they help people perform real work.
