Prepare for a data deluge with the internet of twins

The emerging industrial metaverse places digital twins – 3D data-visualizations of real-world machinery, processes and scenarios – front and center in an evolution of data flows. By combining and connecting twins in what Capgemini calls the “internet of twins,” new insights can emerge. New approaches will be required to generate and use these new operational insights at scale.

Capgemini describes the internet of twins as the combination of multiple digital twins connected via the internet of things (IoT), where IoT describes the interconnection of physical objects using sensors.

The combination can unlock significant value as part of what HFS has identified as a $180 billion industrial metaverse opportunity. However, as more twins connect and more IoT is represented, the complexity of the data generated will grow exponentially—an expected output of adding nodes to any network. The challenge for enterprise leaders will be to create actionable insight from all the new data.

Solutions lie in the 3D and dynamic immersive metaverse

Capgemini says the solution is to model the specific “universe” of the environment in question, where a dynamic and immersive metaverse takes center stage because it enables dynamic 3D visualizations. HFS has previously noted that digital twins could be the greatest data visualization tool yet, but we acknowledge that digital twins haven’t always been three-dimensional digital constructs; many exist simply as numerical models.

Such metaverse-framed “universes” make the internet of twins a place that enables workplace users to co-design while running co-simulations from anywhere in the real world. Digital twins can dynamically represent data in 3D, and collaborating parties can design or optimize models together in real time. Open Cascade, a Capgemini company, has already been running collaborations on a digital twin through Microsoft Teams. The example illustrated in Exhibit 1 shows how collaborators can walk around a 3D experience, identify design challenges, and create potential solutions.

The Open Cascade example shows digital twins already enable human-to-machine and human-to-human interaction. Imagine if the twins were connected and could respond to each other’s data. Then, machine–machine collaboration comes a step closer, enabling rapid and automated optimization even without a human in the loop.

HFS can see cross-silo data flows, generated by the internet of twins, playing a key role in delivering insight required to power the autonomous enterprise. In the autonomous enterprise machines (rather than humans) often make decisions, and humans are removed from loops where they aren’t needed anymore.

Exhibit 1: Digital twins enable real-time collaboration in dynamic virtual environments. Users from different real locations can immerse in, and experience scenarios such as shown below.

Source: Open Cascade, A Capgemini company

The Bottom Line: When data gets this big, we need new ways to experience it.

The sheer volume and complexity of data flow that connected digital twins and IoT devices can generate will deliver enterprise-scale benefits in our ability to monitor change. To take advantage, we must break away from the spreadsheet to experience the data in new ways. Be ready to immerse yourself instead in digital data visualizations. Your service providers can help identify a proof of concept—a basic digital twin of a small but important part of your business. Learn a little now to be at the forefront as digital twin-enabled insights begin to transform how key business decisions get made.