Digital Twins: The Quick Guide into the Technology

Designing and developing tools has been one of the distinctive characteristics of human beings throughout history. But today, we’re entering an era where new realities of software-driven products and innovative technological advancements are on a whole new level. 

Here we’ll talk about one of the most revolutionizing achievements in the tech field: Digital Twins. We will explore the concept and its implications for engineering and development projects by examining its advantages and drawbacks. Lastly, we’ll see how digital twins can be used across various industries in the future. Let’s dive in.

What is Digital Twin Technology?

Before jumping into any discussion, let’s answer a simple question: what are digital twins? Put simply, a digital twin refers to the digital representation of an object, operation, or space that imitates the appearance, qualities, and behavior of its counterpart in a similar environment.

You are probably familiar with simpler types of digital twins where engineers create a digital replica of an airplane, car, building, or even a whole city. The purpose of creating digital twins is to predict how real objects will behave or perform in real-life situations.

Moreover, digital twins technology will help us identify weaknesses and problems within the process or program before implementation. 

Types of Digital Twins

Digital twin technology has expanded significantly over the past couple of years, creating multiple approaches, methods, and modules. Explaining every digital twin type goes beyond the following list, but here are three main different types of digital twins:

Status Twin

This type is often integrated into analytics systems and monitoring tools such as alerting systems which will simulate various scenarios and situations to ensure the system will have a perfect response after installation.

Operational Twin

Operational twin is used to collect detailed information on a certain operation such as running an engine test. This will allow managers and engineers to identify potential problems in the workflow and come up with a more viable solution.

Simulation Twin

The simulation twin has the most potential to integrate artificial intelligence capabilities to assist decision-makers in having a more accurate understanding of how a system operates. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Twins

Like any other technology, digital twins come with some benefits and drawbacks. Let’s take a closer look and see what you can expect from different digital twin types:

Pros of Digital Twins

• Real-time data and performance monitoring
• Analyzing product life cycles or service operations and providing actionable insight into creating new production systems
• Offering performance-based analytics for research and development, logistics, and supply departments
• Evaluating medical operations and treatment plans
• Offering reliable data to improve decision-making processes, organizational strategy, and management, 

Cons of Digital Twins

• Simulations are often simpler than real-life situations 
• The technology depends on advanced technology, careful human monitoring, and an always-on internet connection
• The digital twin technology should be applied to many different scenarios and conditions to maximize its accuracy
• Techniques and technologies used in designing digital twins require special skills and expertise

Where Are Digital Twins Used?

The digital twin technology has been integrated into a wide variety of processes, operations, and systems across Industries. Here are some of the most common use cases of digital twins: 

• Manufacture: the digital twins help manufacturers maximize their productivity and streamline their workflow by reducing potential shortfalls.
• Automotive: The digital twin technology has also been widely used in the car industry to help companies collect and evaluate performance data on specific vehicles and transform that information to optimize the production line.
• Retail: the retail sector can utilize digital twin technology to simulate and improve user experience throughout the sales funnel.
• Healthcare: Healthcare facilities and the medical sector are among the most benefited parts of society from this new technology. Using digital twins in the medical sector allows managers and professionals to reduce the risks of training operating and treating patients.
• Smart Construction: The data derived from digital twins simulations offers a comprehensive view of the economic, environmental, and social viability of each construction project.

Future of Digital Twins

There are many things we don't know about the future of digital technology. However, there is one thing we can all agree upon: The digital twins deliver an Incredibly exciting perspective for minimizing the risks associated with launching new services and product lines.

According to recent estimates, governments, companies, and non-governmental organizations are expected to spend more than 6 billion dollars on developing digital twins technology by 2025.

While the digital twin remains one of the most impressive trends in hardware development over the coming years, there are many different new technological innovations that can help businesses and brands maximize their productivity and efficiency.

As a leading international hardware & software development company, we are dedicated to helping businesses today be in time for tomorrow. Our services range from design and integration of IoT, IIoT, and Embedded systems to web development, mobile app development, and more.

Contact us today, and we’ll discuss how to turn your ideas into reality!