Medicine, aeronautics and automobiles, but also fashion, music, arts, video games and performing arts: no sector today escapes the use of the digital twin, this 3D copy of the real world. The French Touch deciphers this ground swell.

Recognized above all for its performance in the life sciences such as medicine, the digital twin no longer knows any borders. From the electric car to basketball, from urban planning to mobile phones or even beer brewing, its field of application is limitless. Analyze the evolution of a virus over several years in a hurry, train on a precise gesture during a virtual open-heart operation, or more simply simulate an engine failure: every day new uses are emerging in different sectors.

For industry, this concept born around the 1980s has become the keystone of the factory of the future. More recently, during the last One Ocean Summit , in Brest in February, the idea of ​​a digital twin of the oceans even surfaced. A sort of avatar of the marine environment capable of predicting rising sea levels, the proliferation of toxic algae, the frequency of storms… But what exactly does this “buzzword” mean? Why can it be of interest to players in the cultural and creative industries?

“Creating a virtual twin to better understand and improve reality”

The digital twin (or virtual twin) is defined as the perfect 3D digital copy of a product, a factory and its various machines, or even an object or a city, under the same conditions as the real, we explain at the French Dassault Systèmes, world leader which has been developing virtual twins for 40 years. " The challenge is to establish digital tools with a positive impact. The idea is the same each time: create a virtual twin to better understand and improve reality ».

All it took was an announcement from Mark Zuckerberg, during the launch of his “Meta” in October 2021, for the luxury giants in turn to take a closer interest in it, and start investing in this intimately linked technology. to that of Metaverse, Balenciaga playing the scouts. We saw Gucci and other brands selling digital twins of their bags while, at the end of March, the very first digital “fashion week” was held on Decentraland. In the world of gaming, League of Legends à Roblox et Fortnite, millions of players, most often from Generation Z, can now dress their avatars with looks from Moncler, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs.

But the usefulness of the digital twin in the fashion industry is above all for its indirect benefits on the environment, as explained by Riana Ralambomanana, head of innovation at Quinten, one of the leaders in artificial intelligence in Europe. " The modeling of the production chain allows an accurate estimate of the necessary resources and fewer unnecessary cuts. Thanks to the digital twin, there is no longer any need to manufacture real physical prototypes. Finally, in terms of marketing, it is possible to assess customer interest in several variations of the same garment or accessory without realizing them, with, for example, the creation of interactive virtual showrooms. ". No more spendthrift wandering, to find the sweater that best matches your skirt or your shirt, the dilemma will be easily solved in 3D. In a few clicks, the seller will offer, thanks to the digital twin of the garment in question, information and images allowing you to visualize your next looks. Brands like Valentino, Ferragamo or Versace have already started, according to Vogue magazine, a digital approach in this direction.

Endless creative possibilities

Museums and historical monuments have also adopted the concept, with the aim of attracting the public who love the VR experience, but not only. Since 2021, the Cité de l'Architecture has allowed visitors to enter the Lascaux Cave, or rather its twin. Guided by a guide, the visitor experiences, in a small group, the discovery of the place and its ancestral masterpieces, horses, stags and painted ibexes, as if they were really underground. One caveat, however: to respect  stricto sensu  the definition of the digital twin, this virtual copy would have had to evolve at the same rate as the real cave.

"IThere are several levels of definition of the digital twin, from a simple carbon copy to a more elaborate double that reacts and evolves like in real life. It all depends on the use one wishes to make of this modeling of reality. Because ultimately the most important point with modern digital twins remains the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) for sensors. That is to say the possibility of building and evolving the model almost in real time from data collected in the real world “, continues Riana Ralambomanana. Finally, from June, visitors to the Villa Méditerranée will also be able to explore a physical replica of the Cosquer cave for the first time.

The preservation of heritage is also at stake: from a number of surveys carried out before the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris, in particular using drones, a "virtual Notre-Dame" was born there exactly one year, to accompany its reconstruction. The Natural History Museum in London, one of the first museums to be interested in  digital twin  he uses it across the entire museum as a dashboard to manage operations and plan his next investments. For others, the digital twin appears as an opportunity to explore new creativity. The proof in the music sector: on her latest album, the American artist Holly Herndon shares the microphone with the digital double of her voice called Holly+. The experience continues online (on Holly.plus), where the Internet user can have fun making this twin sing to any music of their choice. The musician has promised soon a 3D double of her person to embody her. The rest can then be easily imagined… When will you have a private concert by Serge Gainsbourg's twin in your living room or a poetry evening with that of Arthur Rimbaud?