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54 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2023 Digital twin is a digital replica of a physi- cal entity. While common in product design, that is just one type of digital twin (Figure 1). In manufacturing, it's the set of models and data about a product, asset, production line, or plant that is continually updated through its lifecycle. Using Industrial Internet of ings (IIoT) data allows real-time updates to the vir- tual model based on what's happening in the real system. Augmented reality (AR), as defined by MESA International, is: "Adding a virtual layer of contextual information at the right time and in the right place (e.g., through devices such as Google Glass). Augmented reality is expected to help plant floor workers perform a variety of non-repetitive tasks faster, such as assembly, picking, maintenance, and others." e virtu- ality-reality continuum is a way to understand the relationship between the virtual and real worlds (Figure 2). Notice that there are also various mixes of virtual and real, notably aug- mented reality. It might help to think of these two as shown in Figure 3: • Your plant is the real-world object • e digital twin is its image in the mirror • AR is a device to see the mirror at the same time as the real object Digital thread, as defined by MESA Interna- tional, is: "e collection of digital commu- Figure 2: The reality-virtuality continuum includes not only real and virtual at each end, but also mixed real- ity. Mixed reality includes augmented reality (AR) where virtual elements are superimposed on a camera view of reality, and augmented reality, where views of reality are projected onto the virtual environment of a digital twin. Figure 1: Digital twin is best known in product and process engineering, but there is also a digital twin of the actual manufacturing process as executed.