Ideas change everything

How "digital twins" could help us predict the future

1,066,936 plays|

Karen Willcox |

TEDxUTAustin

• March 2022

From health-tracking wearables to smartphones and beyond, data collection and computer modeling have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. Advancements in these areas have given birth to "digital twins," or virtual models that evolve alongside real-world data. Aerospace engineer Karen Willcox explores the incredible possibilities these systems offer across engineering, climate studies and medicine, sharing how they could lead to personalized medicine, better decision-making and more.

From health-tracking wearables to smartphones and beyond, data collection and computer modeling have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. Advancements in these areas have given birth to "digital twins," or virtual models that evolve alongside real-world data. Aerospace engineer Karen Willcox explores the incredible possibilities these systems offer across engineering, climate studies and medicine, sharing how they could lead to personalized medicine, better decision-making and more.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxUTAustin, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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About the speaker

Aerospace engineer, computational scientist

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Karen E. Willcox is director of the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxUTAustin, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.