A digital twin is a virtual simulation of a physical object, which allows a computer to better model or predict behaviors or interactions for the physical object. Think about precision engineering an extremely expensive part like a wind turbine. We already have modeling software that allows for the virtual replication of wind conditions (i.e., a wind tunnel). By creating a virtual twin for a turbine's design, engineers can simulate different design specs while reducing the costs associated with manufacturing and physically testing expensive prototypes, until they are closer to the optimal design.
At ModuleQ, we extend the use of a Digital Twin to the knowledge worker. The idea is similar to the wind turbine: we want to build a persona that represents a person, whereby personalized information can be served to them without having to blindly ask them if the information is relevant or impactful. We do this by crafting the Digital Twin persona through our patented Personal Data Fusion. As we note in our company's mission statement:
Your digital twin is like a reflection of your professional self into the digital world. It is sufficiently accurate and detailed to be recognizable, but really just a very shallow representation compared to all the complexity of your mind in the real world. Although your digital twin is relatively simple and shallow, it enables ModuleQ’s People-Facing AI to understand your work context. Like an ever-diligent assistant, the AI knows about the business relationships and topics that you care about most. In fact, our highly refined algorithms are so attentive, they can predict the information that will be useful with up to 90% accuracy.
The Digital Twin is a key component towards our belief in personalizing the enterprise knowledge worker's interaction with his or her tools. For too long, workers have been asked to adapt to tooling. For example, Microsoft Excel is a ubiquitous tool, used by hundreds of millions of people. But there is no personalization of its suite of functionality to you, the individual. You are expected to learn its ins and outs (or those that you deem useful). This leaves a lot of underutilized functionality as a result of the user not knowing every nook and cranny of the dozens (if not hundreds) of software and datasets they leverage. Personal Data Fusion is a solution to this conundrum, and the Digital Twin is the means by which we drive that personalization.
Digital Twin Consortium: A digital twin is an integrated data-driven virtual representation of real-world entities and processes, with synchronized interaction at a specified frequency and fidelity.
IBM: A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system designed to reflect a physical object accurately. It spans the object's lifecycle, is updated from real-time data and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to help make decisions.
McKinsey: A digital twin is a digital replica of a physical object, person, system, or process, contextualized in a digital version of its environment. Digital twins can help many kinds of organizations simulate real situations and their outcomes, ultimately allowing them to make better decisions.
Read ModuleQ's personalization white paper here.