A digital twin is a digital representation of an intended or actual real-world physical product, system, or process that serves as an effectively indistinguishable digital counterpart for practical purposes, such as simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance.
In technology, it is a computer program that uses real-world data to create simulations that predict how a product or process will perform. These programs are used to replicate processes to collect data to predict how they will perform.
The power of digital twins comes from connecting real-world assets with real-world data, so you can visualize them better. Digital twins enable cross-functional teams to collaboratively design, build, test, deploy and operate complex systems in interactive and immersive ways. They help companies understand past views, present conditions and prevent future problems. They inform decision-making through sales and marketing insights, analysis, 3D visualization, simulation, and prediction. Because they’re virtual, digital twins can reduce the cost and risk of having to work on the physical things they represent. Other benefits include the following:
. Improved operational efficiency from having more timely data and faster, more effective production
. Longer uptime for equipment because maintenance issues can be investigated in a single digital twin instead of having to shut down all the equipment to isolate a problem
. Improved product end-of-life processes, such as refurbishment and recycling, resulted from more accurate information about the age and contents of a product.
The initial deployments of digital twins have mostly been directed at the design, production and maintenance of extremely high-value, physically large equipment, such as airplanes, buildings, bridges and power-generation plants where mechanical failure can be life-threatening or cause financial losses that exceed the significant expense and effort of developing a digital twin.
The following industries are seeing the most activity in planning or deploying digital twins:
Manufacturing. The industrial world is widely acknowledged as the pioneer in using digital twins and has seen the broadest deployment. Manufacturers have been making digital twins of parts, products and systems for several years and are beginning to deploy process twins that model production processes and sometimes entire factories.
Utilities and energy. Electric companies are investigating digital twins to design, monitor and maintain power plants, electric grids, transmission, and consumption. The technology could also help improve the efficiency of renewable energy systems, such as solar installations and wind farms, whose production is less predictable than fossil fuel-burning plants.
Healthcare. Digital twins built on electronic health records, medical images, genome sequencing, and other medical information could make it easier for providers to diagnose illnesses and recommend treatments by comparing a patient’s digital twin to that of other patients with similar profiles. Medical testing could be done more efficiently by avoiding the risks of using real patients. Researchers are already running simulations on anonymized digital twin data to identify the best therapy options.
Urban planning and construction. Digital twins are being used to design large buildings and offshore oil rigs. Some users are expanding construction twins to encompass neighbourhoods and cities, focusing on infrastructure. Digital twins also have a role in smart city initiatives, which aim to digitally connect infrastructure, often through IoT, and apply AI and analytics to the data to make transportation more efficient and conserve energy, among many goals.
Automotive. Digital twins play their usual role in the vehicle product-design stage and later stages of the vehicle lifecycle, such as service. Digital twins are expected to reduce massive recalls by allowing each vehicle’s unique twin to be analyzed for a defect. Automakers are also using digital twins to make assembly plants more efficient.
Retail and e-commerce. Retailers have begun to use digital twins to model product placement, the customer’s journey through a store and the impact of new store layouts. Digital twins are also helping to improve the realism of 3D product images. Some companies have started using the technology to build online twins of their stores to boost interest in their e-commerce sites.
The Future of Digital Twins
Increasingly, products, equipment, factories, buildings, and cities are no longer merely things in the physical world – they now have accurate virtual counterparts. With Digital twins, we will experience the next iteration of the internet and the connectedness of systems, devices, and people in the metaverse via real-time 3D.
In the near term, developers are likely to expand the use of digital twins to a broader range of entities, from body parts to people, from smart cities to global supply chains. As the price of digital twin technology decreases, companies will no longer limit its use to their most expensive, mission-critical equipment. The continued growth of digital twin development options, Internet of Things infrastructure and related concepts like the metaverse should help popularize digital twins and make them easier to deploy.
References: https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/what-is-digital-twin
Written by Temiloluwa Oyelade, edited by Blessing Odion
Tenece Idea Mine 