Towards A Human-Centered Digital Twin

The Digital Twin paradigm incorporates the application of virtual prototypes established during product development as well as sensor data collected during the production and use phase. Another aspect concerns digital representation of the product's end users. A stronger connection between a digital product and its digital user would complement the Digital Twin. This paper investigates the concept of coupling a geometrical model of an adjustable operating table including position sensors with a cognitive digital user. Users interacted with both real and virtual instances of the table. Resulting data allow for evaluation of the usability of different interface variants and virtual product representations to develop a cognitive model of end users, showing the potential of a combined Digital Twin in human-centered design.