Digital technology has radically transformed global industries over the past few decades. Starting with the emergence of digital twins and evolving into Dassault Systèmes’ virtual twin technology, let’s briefly explore the history of this technology, its underlying principles and the visionaries who have shaped its development.
The concept of digital twins was born during NASA’s Apollo 13 mission in 1970, which was famously documented in an award-winning movie in 1995. Apollo 13 was a crucial part of NASA’s Apollo program, and it aimed to be the third lunar landing mission. However, a catastrophic malfunction happened in the service module, including an explosion in an oxygen tank that forced the mission to be aborted. Despite the failure, the astronauts were successfully brought back to Earth, marking a “successful failure” due to the experience gained in rescuing the crew. The spacecraft faced critical issues and engineers used physical replicas of the systems onboard to test solutions and make decisions. These replicas weren’t digital yet, but the concept of creating a mirrored system to solve problems was clear.
Decades later, in 2002, Dr. Michael Grieves, a professor at the University of Michigan, began writing about the idea of “digital twins” while working on the concept of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). Around the same time, Grieves was collaborating with John Vickers, who now serves as NASA’s Principal Technologist for Advanced Manufacturing. Vickers ultimately coined the term digital twins while they were working together on a NASA project. Dr. Grieves formally presented his work in 2003, describing the digital twin as a digital copy of a physical system that combines design, simulation and data onto a single platform.
While digital twin originally referred to a passive, information-centric virtual representation of a physical asset—anchored in PLM—the term began to stretch to cover a wide array of functions, including autonomy, learning and real-time intervention. This conceptual sprawl led Grieves to begin using the term “intelligent digital twin (IDT)” as technology expanded to include systems that are active, goal-seeking and anticipatory.
Dr. Grieves introduced the term IDT to distinguish these evolved capabilities: systems that don’t just mirror but actively assist, simulate futures, optimize decisions and operate continuously online. This wasn’t a casual rebrand. It was a deliberate move to preserve the integrity of the original concept while naming the richer, AI-enabled constructs that were emerging.
As the concept developed, industries began to use digital twins more widely. By the 2010s, companies started evolving the term in new ways. Early adopters demonstrated the power of digital twins in industries like aerospace and manufacturing. NASA used the technology to improve spacecraft performance simulations, while the gas turbine industry applied it to enhance testing and maintenance processes. These successes paved the way for digital twins in areas like healthcare, energy and transportation, proving their value in analyzing and predicting complex systems.
Over time, the demands of increasingly advanced industries showed the need for more dynamic and interactive models. By the 2010s, the term digital twin started being used differently by various companies, often in ways that moved away from its original meaning.
Soon, digital twins were increasingly used across the manufacturing and aerospace sectors. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) utilized this technology to shorten design cycles, improve maintenance and streamline operations. For instance, NASA expanded its use of digital twins for spacecraft performance simulations, while the gas turbine engine industry adopted the technology to enhance testing and maintenance reliability.
Evolution to virtual twins
In 2014, Dassault Systèmes introduced the concept through its 3DEXPERIENCE platform—not as a mirror of the physical, but as a medium for simulating and shaping the future. This was a shift from reflection to orchestration, anticipating future alternative outcomes. By 2016, groundbreaking projects like Virtual Singapore demonstrated the scale and ambition of the idea—modeling entire urban ecosystems to inform planning, resilience and innovation. Then, in 2020, Dassault Systèmes’ CEO Bernard Charlès formally distinguished the virtual twin from the digital twin, framing it not as a mere evolution, but as a true disruptive technology uniquely suited to imagine what could be and to engineer that future sustainably.
“An intelligent virtual twin is more than a simulation—it’s a system of shared understanding. It’s how we imagine futures before we commit to them, not just with data, but with judgment, creativity, and purpose. It’s where engineers, scientists, and policymakers rehearse tomorrow—together—so we build wisely, not just efficiently.”
– Garrett Thurston, Principal Technical Fellow
Virtual twins integrate multi-physics simulations, artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time data to craft precise and responsive digital replicas. These models enable observation, analysis, testing and optimization within sophisticated virtual environments that connect digital innovations to virtual worlds in real life.
Digital twin vs virtual twin
To truly grasp the leap from digital twins to virtual twins, let’s compare their functionalities directly.
| Feature | Digital twin | Virtual twin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A digital copy of a physical object or process | A dynamic, interactive model of real-world systems |
| Focus | Observation and basic simulation | Advanced simulation, testing and optimization |
| Data Integration | Static, sensor-driven data | Real-time data, multi-physics modeling and AI |
| User Experience | Limited interactivity | Full immersion and dynamic interaction |
| Application Scope | Single processes or products | Entire systems, environments or ecosystems |
Virtual twins stand out as the next step in modeling and optimizing not just single components, but entire ecosystems. This evolution enables industries to simulate and improve virtually any aspect of their operations, making virtual worlds for real life a reality and enabling users to:
- Preserve and curate knowledge at any level
- Drive scalable, model-based decision processes
- Explore alternative futures under uncertainty
- Inform strategy with experience, not just data
Put simply, virtual twins give us the ability to create “memories of the future“—shared experiences across disciplines that increase our wisdom, not just our knowledge. This is the virtual twin frontier—not just a technological landscape, but a human one.
Reshaping industries
Dassault Systèmes is at the forefront of innovation in virtual twin science & technology, redefining possibilities across multiple industries. Using the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, organizations are now able to explore virtual worlds for real life, applying this science, methodology and enabling technology to real-world challenges like sustainability, efficiency and optimization.
For instance, virtual twins can empower cities to address complex urban scenarios rich with human, ecological and other factors and implications. From monitoring infrastructure and regulating traffic to assessing environmental impacts, virtual worlds make it possible to model entire urban ecosystems dynamically. Beyond urban planning, industries such as energy, healthcare and transportation are exploring how virtual twins can optimize supply chains, enhance medical device design and even model renewable energy systems.
Virtual universes
Virtual twins use advanced technologies like AI, machine learning and IoT to provide real-time insights and help challenge tough problems. Dassault Systèmes combines digital tools with real-world systems that help us plan for the future. These “virtual universes” act like tools to explore possibilities, make smart choices and work toward a healthier planet.
A virtual twin can represent a machine, a supply chain or a city plan. But a virtual universe goes further—it shows the bigger picture, including how decisions may affect people, resources and the environment over time.
Virtual twins, supported by technologies like AI and machine learning deliver real-time insights and collaborative capabilities for solving complex challenges. By bridging digital innovation with physical systems, Dassault Systèmes is leading the way in creating Virtual Worlds for Real Life with the evolution of Virtual Universes.
Virtual universes are lenses through which we explore futures—tools that help us choose wisely, model responsibly and move toward outcomes worth inhabiting. It places the twin inside a living system of stakeholders, resources, policies and possible worlds. The virtual twin may simulate a machine, a supply chain or a city plan. But the virtual universe simulates the meaning and context of those models—the environment in which decisions echo, evolve and reveal their human impact.
Where the twin reflects performance, the universe refracts purpose.
What is a generative economy?
Virtual universes also act as catalysts for the generative economy—a system designed to generate and sustain long-term well-being, equity, resilience and a healthier planet. It contrasts with extractive or purely profit-maximizing models by embedding purpose-driven design into the structure of ownership, finance and governance. The different models empower teams across various disciplines to experiment with solutions, predict future outcomes and make data-informed innovation decisions. By offering a shared space to innovate modular solutions, explore “what-if” analyses and modular problem solving.
The prospects are boundless. From sustainable urban development to innovating future transportation systems, this technology represents the next chapter in human innovation. With Dassault Systèmes’ innovative digital technology, we can rethink what is achievable, transforming how we design, build and interact with the physical world.
Learn more
Are you ready to explore how Dassault Systèmes and their virtual twin technology can shape the future? Explore the possibilities with these cutting-edge solutions and see how they bring virtual worlds to real life.
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NAM Services Architecture, Senior Industry Services Director