A growing number of industries are creating digital replicas of physical systems — known as digital twins — to monitor, test and optimise real-world operations.
These virtual models can represent machines, factories, buildings or even entire cities, continuously updated with live data from sensors.
Engineers use them to predict failures, improve efficiency and test scenarios without interrupting real operations.
Digital twins are already being applied in manufacturing, healthcare, aviation and urban planning.
Supporters argue the technology can reduce costs, improve sustainability and make infrastructure more resilient.
However, building accurate digital models requires large amounts of high-quality data and raises concerns about privacy and security.
Experts suggest digital twins reflect a broader technological shift: the merging of physical environments with continuously updated digital systems.
In that sense, industries are increasingly managing reality through simulations of reality itself.
