Digital Twin Guide
Knowledge Guides /How do you prevent commands from overwriting each other when multiple users control a digital twin?
Last updated: · New Horizon Digital Outsourcing Team
Multi-user collaboration must first establish who has control, rather than merely connect multiple browsers to one scene. Separate permissions for observation, requesting control, authorized operation, and configuration management, and define handling for control transfer, disconnection, and conflicts.
Separate read-only state from control commands
- All observers may read state filtered by permissions, but only the currently authorized party may submit operations. Record the operator, target object, parameters, and time for each command. Authorization shown on a control client must come from the server, rather than relying only on whether a local button is enabled.
The control-authority lifecycle
- Define request, grant, renewal, release, and expiration procedures. Whether an action continues after client disconnection or timeout must follow business and safety rules. Reconnection must not automatically reclaim control, as an old page could otherwise interfere with current operations without the user's knowledge.
How should concurrency and playback be isolated?
- Historical playback must be isolated from live control. Identify duplicate, delayed, and out-of-order commands, and do not treat retries as new actions. Operations requiring on-site confirmation need separate authorization; the collaboration interface must not bypass the original system's safety chain.
Deliberately create conflicts during acceptance
- Use two accounts to request control of the same object simultaneously and check that only one gains permission. Then verify disconnection, revocation, and duplicate submissions. Deliver a permission matrix, audit logs, and conflict-handling documentation. Synchronized visuals do not establish reliable control arbitration.