Digital Twin Technology

Digital twins are one of the best examples in this book for showcasing how synergies can be created between digital technologies, among others, by heavily relying on insights from AI, the IoT, and VR–AR. Digital twin technology is mainly characterized by linking or integrating physical with virtual entities and environments, such as for the purpose of simulation, training, and monitoring. Their states can then be measured, changed, and even synchronized. The latter refers to twinning and can happen physical-to-virtual or virtual-to-physical. Digital twin applications are central to smart factories and are especially central to Industry 4.0, even though they are not necessarily limited to manufacturing industries. Finally, this chapter explains why a cyber-physical system might be a better approach to reframe digital twins, especially to avoid overselling or overhyping this digital technology.