Digital Twin Technology
What are Digital Twins?
The rising trend of Digital Twin Technology and its corporate application is fascinating.
What is Digital Twin Technology, you ask?
Think Metaverse for business. If that makes you cringe, like it does me, then imagine something more akin to Minecraft for business products, manufacturing plants, engines, and anything else that can be replicated virtually. Or perhaps you are a Millenial who will better understand by reminising about the PC game Roller Coaster Tycoon, a virtual representation of a real thing, created and used with the intent to improve or enhance the real thing itself, to learn and to improve, and ultimately -- to make customers happy and make a profit.
Visualize building an exact digital replica of your business asset, allowing you to experiment without consequences to the physical entity.
This has already been done at scale for years in dangerous jobs. Pilots using flight simulators. Construction trainees practice driving an excevator or crain in a video game before handling the big equipment. Surgeons practice techniques and learn anatomy on a virtual cadaver.
Going Beyond the "Dangerous Jobs" Application of Digital Twins
The uses listed above are obvious. When physical danger exists, digital twins have been used for years; but the business applications go well beyond only using the tech for dangerous jobs. Many other types of physical assets would benefit from having a digital twins for tests, experiments, and virtual operations; minimizing risks to business, people, and assets.
"Digital twins can be created for any physical infrastructure, including individual components of engines, turbines, equipment, factories, and data centers." (CSO Online)
Real examples, like using digital replicas to improve performance of SoFi Stadium and SpaceX rockets have been touted as credible use cases for employing digital twins to partner with physical business assets. The physical risk of damage and injury is obvious, as with pilot simulators, but the benefits don't stop there.
A virtual environment allows for data analysis and could help leaders make informed business decisions, reducing physical product risks, improving efficiency and effectiveness, and creating better outcomes for customers. Digital Twins might be used to analyze complex business systems. Performing large scale QA on your complex business systems might become a possibility.
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Risks to Using Digital Twins
With every positive advancement comes risk. The risks of using Digital Twins are not always apparent. I can't cover them all in one post, but allow me to call out the glaring monsters looming around the corner.
First, albeit an obvious risk to consider, is the question of ROI. While building or buying a digital twin for rocket engineering or flight simulations would likely yield a positive answer, in intangible business scenarios, such as enhancing accounting or customer retention, the cost might not justify the investment.
Second, recognize the potential extrinsic threats created from using digital twins, such as introducing avenues for cyberattacks or data breaches, compromising sensitive information and exposing vulnerabilities. (More on this topic in the CSO article linked below).
Third, consider whether outcomes from digital twin scenarios truly manifest in real life. While a digital replica of many scenarios or assets can be devised, many won't offer even one shred of usefulness. While simulations should, theoretically, offer valuable insights, the translation to real-world situations could be completely wasteful at best, and harmful at worst.
For example, although Digital Twins are valuable in various industries, their application can be limited and risky in complex fields like Healthcare. Replicating human biology and chemistry accurately in a digital twin remains challenging, or impossible. Surgeons might use a digital cadaver to learn anatomy, but they understand that the human body is vastly complicated in a way that their virtual training can't even begin to match.
While Digital Twins' utility for patients is, and always will be, limited, they could however be used to enhance hospital operations, logistics, med device development, and so on.
Digital Twin Technology's business applications are exciting, but I remain cautious about the associated risks and limitations.
Check out these articles for more on digital twin tech:
Executive Client Partner and Industry Head of Healthcare and Lifesciences
1 年Crazy cool stuff though Chris Baldridge. Im curious to see where the insilico “organs on a chip” tech goes and the potential future state of digital twins of humans with biologics.