A digital twin is a digital replica of a physical thing or process. The concept of a digital twin dates back to 2002. The first practical definition of a digital twin came from NASA when they tried to improve the physical model simulation of spacecraft in 2010.

A digital twin can be digitally created to model something as small as a single machine component to an entire factory, building, or the world or brain. Digital twins can stand alone to see how they fare under a variety of conditions, such as temperature or pressure, but they can also integrate with other tools, like AI.

CulturePulse’s social digital twins are typically created as multi-agent AI (MAAI) systems pioneered by Justin Lane and F. LeRon Shults. CulturePulse digital twins of social groups are based on psychological profiles generated from text data — of a subreddit, a community on Twitter, or a local population. These digital twins have the same beliefs and values as the individuals and groups you want to connect with. This allows users to safely test messaging until they’re satisfied with their content, their audience’s reaction to it, and their Resonance Score.

Digital Twin Projects

While digital twin technology isn't yet commonplace, many companies across diverse industries are using it to improve their understanding of how the world works globally, physically, and locally.

• NVIDIA’s Earth -2 is a digital twin of the earth to understand weather and climate change.
• Neurotwin is an EU-funded project that’s trying to simulate human brains to help predict the most efficacious treatment for conditions like Alzheimer's and epilepsy.
• Shanghai. 51World created a digital twin of Shanghai and all 26M of its people and everything else that makes it what it is.

The diversity of digital twin applications is inspiring because they showcase the breadth of scientific, communal, and social understanding and innovation coming to communities all around us — and even improving the quality of our lives.