You will understand the definition of digital twin after reading this article.

The concept of digital twins originated from the theory of "machine photography" proposed by William Fowler in 1947. He proposed a technology and environment required to realize digital synthetic photography, including cameras, color projectors, lighting, displays, RAID technology and complex intelligent optical systems. Another important scientist, British scientist Frederick Friedman, continued to develop existing technologies and eventually established the first true digital twin system. Friedman proposed a set of technologies that can easily and accurately capture images, which can use the principles of machine photography. Subsequently, other researchers continued to promote the development of digital twin technology with broad application prospects, specifically, including improvements to digital twin systems, more introduction of software and computer algorithms, and development of new acquisition and processing technologies to help better process and capture images.

Digital twin technology has recently developed to be applied to most media, including web browsing, broadcasting, film and multimedia design. It can use high-end computer display technology to capture and present various digital twins without the need for professional photographic equipment. In the face of the challenges of economic development, digital twin technology is also playing an increasingly important role, expanding the range of technologies that companies can use, improving corporate efficiency, and providing more flexibility to consumers and businesses.

Digital twins are twin digital spaces built on the basis of data generated in the real world, which realize the two-way connection and mapping between the real world and the virtual world. By building digital twin assets of the real world in the virtual world, the one-to-one restoration of people, terminals and processes in the real world can be achieved in the twin world. Through the virtual world, the barriers of time and space can be broken, and multi-person cross-domain production collaboration in a unified twin platform can be achieved. Through the computing power of the twin world, the real-time problems in the real world can be analyzed and predicted, and the real world can be helped to carry out early production operations and control to avoid production risks and improve efficiency.

Digital twins are the process of digitally defining and modeling the composition, characteristics, functions and performance of physical entities using information technology. Digital twins refer to information models that are completely equivalent to physical entities in the computer virtual space, and physical entities can be simulated, analyzed and optimized based on digital twins.

Definition of authoritative consulting agencies:

Deloitte: Digital twins are dynamic presentations of the past and current behaviors or processes of a physical entity in a digital form.

Accenture: Digital twin is a digital model of a physical product in a virtual space, which contains product information from product conception to product delisting throughout its life cycle.

Gartner: The digital embodiment of real-world entities or systems is considered to be a key way to achieve two-way mapping, dynamic interaction, and real-time connection between virtual and real.

Digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object created using digital technology. This model reflects the various attributes and states of the physical object in the virtual space, including its behavior and performance during its life cycle. This concept covers the simulation process of multiple disciplines and physical quantities, and aims to complete the mapping of the entire life cycle of physical equipment in the virtual space by integrating multi-disciplinary and multi-physical quantity data. Digital twin is not only a concept, but also a technology. It enhances the prediction and control capabilities of physical objects through the integration of technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and software analysis.

Definition of the International Organization for Standardization:

In 2017, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released the "Industrial Automation Systems and Integration - Digital Twin Framework and Its Elements" (ISO 23247-1:2020), which is the first international standard on digital twins.

The digital twin framework includes building a closed-loop data interaction channel between physical space and information space, realizing the connection and integration of the physical and digital worlds, and replicating and simulating the structure, behavior and state of physical objects in virtual space through digital technology, so as to realize real-time monitoring, prediction and optimization of physical objects. This framework integrates multiple technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, and is widely used in manufacturing, energy, transportation, medical care, agriculture and other fields, aiming to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance competitiveness. The elements include:

‌1. Building a closed-loop data interaction channel between physical space and information space to achieve two-way communication and ensure real-time synchronization between the physical world and the digital world.

‌2. Realizing the information-physical interaction and integration of information systems, guiding or optimizing the operation of actual industrial equipment through real-time mapping and decision-making control systems.

‌3. Solving various problems of industrial equipment, such as improving production efficiency, reducing failure rates, optimizing production processes, etc.

National standard definition:

Digital twin is a digital expression of a specific target entity with data connection, which can ensure synchronization between physical state and virtual state at an appropriate rate and accuracy. Since digital twins have the characteristics of virtual-real integration and real-time interaction, iterative operation and optimization, and full-factor/full-process/full-business data drive, they have been widely applied to manufacturing, cities, agriculture, energy, construction and other fields. Digital twin technology can help factory managers to simulate and optimize factory production resource planning and process control instructions, and improve the output efficiency of factory design, construction and reconstruction; it can help city managers promote the synchronous planning and construction of digital cities and real cities, and realize the innovation of life cycle management and governance model of the whole process of urban planning, construction, management and operation; it can help agricultural producers monitor and optimize production operations, and perform predictive diagnosis for agricultural machinery and equipment; it can help energy managers realize visual monitoring and management of energy production and transmission processes, conduct fault analysis and remote operation and maintenance, etc.; it can help construction builders promote the integrated management and control of construction project planning, design, construction, and operation, and realize intelligent management applications such as building space, health, safety, green energy saving, predictive maintenance, and safety; it can help doctors monitor patients' conditions in real time, propose personalized medical plans, and dynamically schedule and optimize medical resources. Faced with the extensive application needs of digital twins in various scenarios, it is particularly important to carry out digital twin standardization work. GB/T 43441 aims to specify the reference architecture, digital entity construction, information interaction, digital asset classification and management of digital twins, and is planned to consist of four parts.

Knowledge management platforms such as Baidu Encyclopedia:

Baidu Encyclopedia: Digital twins are to make full use of physical models, sensors, operation history and other data, integrate multi-disciplinary, multi-physical quantities, multi-scale, and multi-probability simulation processes, complete mapping in virtual space, and thus reflect the full life cycle of the corresponding physical equipment. Digital twins are a concept that transcends reality and can be regarded as a digital mapping system of one or more important and interdependent equipment systems.

: According to international definitions, digital twins are to make full use of physical models, sensor updates, operation history and other data, integrate multi-disciplinary, multi-physical quantities, multi-scale, and multi-probability simulation processes, complete mapping in virtual space, and thus reflect the full life cycle of the corresponding physical equipment.

Definition of typical technology vendors:

Digital twins are twin digital spaces built based on data generated in the real world, which realizes two-way connection and mapping between the real world and the virtual world. By building digital twin assets of the real world in the virtual world, the one-to-one restoration of people, terminals and processes in the real world can be achieved in the twin world. Through the virtual world, the barriers of time and space can be broken, and multi-person cross-domain production collaboration in a unified twin platform can be achieved. Through the computing power of the twin world, real-time problems in the real world can be analyzed and predicted, helping the real world to carry out production operations and control in advance to avoid production risks and improve efficiency.

In short, it is to build a completely consistent corresponding model in the digital world for physical objects in the real world, and dynamically simulate, monitor, analyze and control physical objects through digital means.