The Rise of Digital Twins

Last March, Nature Computational Science published an issue dedicated to digital twins. From the simulators used by NASA in the Apollo missions to today’s applications in urban planning, the concept of digital twins is more alive than ever. 

Since that first application, digital twins have been nurtured by significant advances in computing power, data generation and the emergence of a wide range of methods and tools for building the ‘living models’. These developments have extended the possibilities of digital twins from industry and engineering to other fields such as social sciences, biomedicine, climate science and others, which bring their own challenges, requirements and discussions.

This issue of Nature Computational Science highlights the most recent developments in this flourishing field, bringing together expert point of views on the needs, gaps and opportunities for implementing digital twins in different subjects. In the context of urban planning, Michael Batty presents an article that begins with a discussion of the definition of digital twins and argues that the gap between real and digital is not the same for physical assets than for social and organizational systems. Batty claim, as well as the need to integrate humans in the loop design and use of digital twins, reminding as cities could be inherently unpredictable.

If you are interested in this issue, follow this link:

https://www.nature.com/collections/feicjiideh

Follow this link to read Michael Batty article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-024-00606-7

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