What’s an example of a Digital Twin? 6 real world instances to inspire you | Omi.so

From architectural models to zoos, recreating real-world entities in miniature for simulation and planning has been a knowledge-gathering strategy for hundreds of years. Digital Twins are the most up-to-date version of this practice.

The term ‘Digital Twin’ was first popularized in 2010, when it was adopted by the influential NASA technologist John Vickers. In its original context, a Digital Twin is a virtual replica of a physical object, system, or environment — specifically, one that allows for a two-way flow of information.

Some Digital Twins use data from sensors to update themselves. They’re used to analyze how a real-world entity will behave under certain conditions.

However, Digital Twins are increasingly being used in marketing, to scale the production of product visuals via virtual product photography. In these cases, the term is more or less synonymous with “photorealistic 3D model.” If you’ve ever seen a beautifully rendered packshot photo online that doesn't quite look like a traditional photograph, there’s a good chance it was created using a Digital Twin.

Digital Twins have slightly different purposes depending on the industry that uses them, so here’s some prominent examples.

Examples of Digital Twins in different industries

A wide range of industries use Digital Twins to make better decisions and communicate information.

1. Product visuals for marketing

One of the most accessible and fast-growing use cases for digital twins is in Virtual Product Photography for eCommerce pictures, social media, 360 product views, and ads.

Instead of dealing with the logistics of physically photographing each product variation, leading brands like Perrier and Moët Hennessy create Digital Twins of key products. This lets them scale up on-brand production of product imagery without blowing their budgets.

Digital Twin product photography of a champagne bottle. One mesh model, one white background, one with a scenic European backdrop

Moët Hennessy uses Omi’s Digital Twin technology to promote their world-renowned champagne.

Digital Twin product photography of Perrier’s Energize, on black background next to three phone-sized adverts

Perrier also uses Digital Twins to create engaging ad images for their energy drinks. They achieve remarkable results: +9 point lift in ad recall in key demographics. Read more here.

Turn your product into a Digital Twin → create luxurious product images

It's easy with Omi's Virtual Photo Studio. And costs up to 20x less than traditional product photography.

Explore the Virtual Photo Studio

Go deeper: Omi is a virtual product photography tool that uses Digital Twin technology. With Omi, brands get a Digital Twin of their products that they can use in a Virtual Photo Studio to create imaginative or classic product shots. Users can adjust the background, lighting, composition, export ratio, and resolution of their product image — without needing a camera or a physical set. Or even a designer.

Using Omi's Virtual Photo Studio, you can turn your scenes into product videos, along with interactive 360° viewers which allow your audience to rotate your product or zoom into its finer details.

Photos and videos created entirely with Omi’s Digital Twin technology are indistinguishable from the physical thing.

Though the marketing use case strays a little from the traditional meaning of ‘Digital Twins’, this technology offers the most flexible, scalable, and cost-effective alternative to traditional photography that large numbers of retailers are adopting.

2. Construction

Construction experts used a Digital Twin as part of the process of building the One World Trade Center — the tallest building in the US.

TheArchitects created a Digital Twin to assess the building’s structural integrity and predict how it would fare during various environmental events. The twin also helps monitor the building’s lighting systems, making it a powerful tool for predictive maintenance.

3. Aerospace and automotive

Although the term Digital Twin didn’t come into regular use until around 2010, NASA’s ill-fated Apollo 13 flight is often credited as the first use of the concept. When the machine you’re maintaining suffers an explosion 200,000 miles away, how on earth can you diagnose and fix the issue?

The mission control team had more than 15 simulators — which we might think of today as Digital Twins. They modified some of these to match the explosion scenario, which helped them find the fix that brought the crew safely back to earth.

4. Healthcare

In medicine, digital twins can model organs or biological systems. For instance, Dassault Systèmes recently developed a virtual twin of the human heart, with the aim of studying drug interactions and improving the design of cardiac devices like pacemakers.

5. Urban planning

Urban planners are now building digital twins of entire cities to model traffic patterns, energy consumption, and disaster responses. For example, there’s a Digital Twin of Singapore, called Virtual Singapore.

This model is continually updated with the latest information about resources, construction, and population behavior. It’s proved invaluable for the country’s sustainable urban development — there are even plans to allow the public to access parts of the model, so they can be more involved in decision-making processes.

6. Manufacturing and engineering

Engineers at General Electric use Digital Twins to understand and predict patterns of wear and tear in their industrial facilities. They have realistic simulations of equipment including turbines, compressors, and pumps, which allows them to repair critical structures before they break.

From spaceships to your favorite online store

Using Digital Twins has been a transformative practice for engineering-related industries for many years now. But in recent years, they’ve also become transformative for online retailers looking to create product shots.

Creating a virtual version of your product or physical entity is a useful practice, whether you need to understand which machines need an oil change first, decide where to build new roads in your city — or create high quality product images for less budget.