Human Digital Twins: Principles and challenges

Abstract

The concept of Digital Twins (DT) has experienced a remarkable surge in popularity over the past few years. A DT is a computer system designed to monitor, simulate and predict various aspects of a specific physical object. In other words, it is like an enhanced digital counterpart of a real object. Human Digital Twins (HDT) have emerged as an evolution of this concept, where the physical object twinned is a human being. Nevertheless, the inherent complexity of human beings turns the creation of their digital representation into a challenging endeavour. In this study, a systematic literature review was conducted that aimed at clarifying the HDT concept and the different aspects a proper HDT should consider. To shed some light on how the different facets of a HDT are addressed in the literature, we delved into its fields of application, the human dimensions a HDT considers, the information handled, its underlying technological frameworks, what quality assessment processes are being applied to HDT, and lastly, those ethical and legal concerns related to HDT. As a result of this systematic literature review, a HDT research agenda is presented to fill the gaps and shortcomings identified in the literature reviewed and highlight some challenges that should be addressed in the near future.