What are digital twins, and why are they transforming entire industries?

The answer

Digital twins are real-time virtual replicas of physical objects, processes, or systems, continuously updated with sensor data. The global digital twin market, valued at $10 billion in 2023, is projected to reach $110 billion by 2028. Singapore created a complete digital twin of the entire city-state (Virtual Singapore) for urban planning. Siemens uses factory digital twins that simulate production changes before physical implementation, reducing downtime by up to 50%. The European Space Agency's "Destination Earth" project is creating a digital twin of Earth to simulate climate scenarios with unprecedented accuracy. In healthcare, Dassault Systèmes builds digital twin hearts that simulate individual patients' cardiac function for personalized treatment planning. BMW's Regensburg plant runs an NVIDIA Omniverse digital twin of its entire factory, optimizing robot paths and worker ergonomics before any physical change is made.