‘Digital twins’ could revolutionize planes, cars and hearts

livemint.com:

The U.S. Air Force will announce on Tuesday its latest initiative to unleash the power of “digital twins"—computerized simulators that mimic real-world systems with almost perfect accuracy. This bold effort, dubbed Model One, integrates 50 top military simulations into a unified system to adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of digital warfare.

As the conflict in Ukraine underscores, the blistering speed of software and data, not industrial-era hardware, now drives the battlefield cadence. The U.S. military can’t currently simulate, much less master, such interconnected hyperwar.

The need to do so is escalating. Aside from improving military decision making, such integrated digital environments are the means to train battlefield artificial intelligence. As important as it will be for our security, it will have important civilian applications as well.

The rise of virtual technology, including digital twins, hasn’t been as flashy as videogaming’s virtual realities, but it’s quietly reshaping how industries conceive physical technology, from race cars to artificial hearts. As accurate simulations become stand-ins for physical testing, innovation becomes faster and less expensive. According to a recent Allied Market Research report, the global digital-twin industry is projected to grow 20-fold, from $6.5 billion in 2021 to $125.7 billion by 2030.

Some pundits predict it will spark a new industrial revolution. Leading the charge is Formula 1. When sportwide cost caps were first introduced in 2021, they inadvertently triggered a digital-engineering race before the races we watch on television.