1min Explainer: “What is a Digital Twin in Simple Words?”

Read time: ~1min

The technical explanation

A digital twin comprises a virtual representation of a selected portion of the physical world, with two way interconnections, synchronized at specified frequencies and fidelities, and designed to create change in the physical that can be measured and improved in the virtual.

• A digital twin is a virtual representation of real-world entities and processes, synchronized at a specified frequency and fidelity (The Digital Twin Consortium).

• A digital twin is a virtual (digital) replica of a physical asset or process, and changes when the physical asset changes

• A digital twin is a software copy of a real thing, used for some purpose

• A digital twin is a 3D model or point cloud (i.e. this is not a digital twin)

The simplified explanation

A Digital Twin is an easier and simpler way to interpret, assess and make decisions from large quantities of different information about a complex asset (e.g. mining conveyor, an aeroplane, a water treatment facility, etc).

Before the digital twin we had to look at individual sections of an asset, usually through individual software programs, which made it really hard to understand the big picture and make the right decisions. For example, previously if we wanted to understand how we could reduce the amount of power a building was consuming, we would look at a power consumption metre (perhaps over time on a dashboard). But this was very limiting, as we knew there were many other factors contributing to this amount of power, but the only information we could go off was "is it high? Or is it low?". The rest we had to infer, piece together separate systems, or try find someone who knew the building well.

“A Digital Twin is an easier and simpler way to interpret, assess and make decisions from large quantities of different information about a complex asset”

With Digital Twins, we can now connect many different sources of information in a simple 'replica' of the asset. For example, with a digital twin of our building, we could potentially see the power being used in each room along side the amount of foot traffic in the room from day to day, along side the temperature sensors in the room that could show how much (say) the air conditioners were contributing. Digital Twins are now a new and better way we can interpret many different sources of information quickly, in order to make better financial, safety and environmental decisions.

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