Virtual reality technologies such as Augmented Reality have been at the forefront of everyone’s attention. Huge companies such as Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram have quickly caught on the wave of this concept and started implementing it to enhance their user experience. However, how does a reality that is based on augmentation matches up against one of the youngest disruptive technologies such as IoT or Virtual Twin? What are the key differences between these two concepts and which one will dominate the market? When most people hear any of these concepts, the idea of virtual reality comes to mind the most often, however, although similar, these concepts are entirely separate and distinct from one another. In today’s blog, we will talk about which technology concept is better, how they differ and what makes them work.

The main aspects that differentiate virtual twin from a reality that’s based on augmentation

To explain this in simple words, Digital Twin is a virtual representation of an object, a service process, a product or anything else that can be digitized. You might ask, well how is this different than just 3D modeling? The biggest difference from Virtual Twin and any other digital software that can create objects is that the virtual twin is directly connected to its physical twin (the object that the digital replica was based on) and on top of that, it is directly connected to it. This means that any changes that are experienced by the physical counterpart (e.g. weather changes, damage, alterations to its model, human interactions) will be reflected in its digitalized twin. This phenomenon happens through a concept called Twinning – a process during which the virtual twin is created and connected to the real world object. This revelation is extremely huge for the world of business as by using this technology, companies around the world can now safely test their products, modify them, come up with service fulfillment processes and optimize their work via simulations.

The final (and biggest) feature of a Digital Twin is its ability to gather data and create simulations based on it. For instance, let’s suppose that an international cargo shipping company is looking to increase the total amount of goods they ship on a monthly basis by increasing the number of objects their ships carry and by discovering new routes to reach their destinations faster. Executing this experiment, in reality, will cost fuel, require a lot of capital, interrupt with the fulfillment process and cause a decline in profits because of that. All of this can be avoided by connecting the ships to digital simulations – now developers can perform the tests virtually, without any costs.

Are digital twin data-based simulations better than simulations from augmented reality?

The concept of Augmented Reality is much older than Virtual Twin, however, the idea of augmentation is fairly limited. It only involves incorporating the virtual world with reality whereas Digital Twin is fully based in a virtual simulation that gathers data from the real world and adjusts itself based on the changes. Augmented Reality serves an entirely different purpose because although it is not ablef to manufacture simulations and digitize objects, it can use data and information to enhance the real world we live in, rather than shape it. The method regarding how AR is capable of doing this will be covered in deep detail at our seminar named: augmenting reality with digital twin – find conference details. You can find out if you qualify by visiting our events page.

Which technology is the right fit for your company?

If you are a business owner who is looking to optimize and improve the efficiency of how your company works and executes its internal processes without draining your budget for development costs, Digital Twin will help you find solutions for that. However, by looking at things from the perspective of customer experience, you can incorporate Augmented Reality to help your customers interact and get to know the full benefits of your product better.

Get exclusive access to our private mastermind. In this workshop, you will gain insider knowledge on how virtual twin is best utilized in your industry and what are the main reasons why the biggest companies in the world prefer this technology over AR. Click the button above for more information – seats are limited.