Digital Twin
AI & Emerging Tech
A live digital model of a real product, building or system, kept in sync with the physical one.
In practice
A digital twin is a virtual counterpart to something physical — a machine, a building, a supply chain, a city — fed by sensors so it reflects the real thing's current state and can be used to monitor, simulate and predict. For product designers it is the idea that the object you ship keeps a living model behind it, which changes what maintenance, updates and service can be.
Questions
What is Digital Twin?
A digital twin is a continuously updated digital representation of a physical asset, used to observe it, test changes on it and predict how it will behave.
Why do you use Digital Twin?
You can experiment on the model without touching the thing, and see problems in the real one before they become failures.
How do you use/apply Digital Twin?
Instrument the physical asset, build a model that mirrors its structure and state, connect the two, and design the views and controls people need to act on what it shows.
When do you use Digital Twin?
For products and systems that are expensive, remote, or dangerous to test on directly — and for anything you want to keep improving after it ships.
Who uses Digital Twin?
Industrial designers, engineers, architects and operations teams working on connected products and infrastructure.
