Organizers behind a two-day conference that took place in downtown Orlando last week on digital twins said the first-time event will likely return to Orlando in 2026.
Reality Capture Network CEO and Founder Matthew Byrd praised the turnout for R-CON, which held its first Orlando event at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
“Any time you have a first-time conference you have no idea what it’s going to be like,” he said. “But I wasn’t too nervous. I’ve been to Orlando quite a bit.”
Across two days, R-CON was a summit that brought in experts from various industries to talk about the latest efforts and advancements in the digital twin field.
Digital twins defined are virtual representations of real-world systems or entities, designed to reflect a physical counterpart.
The technology has been around for decades but advanced technologies have made them more valuable, viable and accessible.
Organizers chose Orlando for its depth in modeling and simulation, Byrd said.
The mix at the conference included a hefty amount of speakers from Central Florida, along with experts from ExxonMobil, Amazon Web Services and NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski’s RFK Racing, among others.
The event was widely praised with digital twin expert Carolina Cruz-Neira saying Thursday that bringing disparate industries together was smart because it showed the breadth of the technology’s reach.
Throughout both days, exhibitors showed off their projects while guests jumped into a large speaker room to hear from the experts.
Byrd said, for the most part, he was pleased with the event. However, he did say one thing he would have done differently was announce the event sooner to potentially attract more corporations and others to attend.
“A lot of them need a year in advance to budget and plan where they are going,” he said. “Otherwise, a very positive outcome and we are very happy with it.”