Digital Twins Save the World
數位雙生拯救世界
2026 ｜數位雙生拯救世界 Digital Twins Save the World｜WU PIN-YU
Media｜Installation / Video
媒材｜裝置 / 影片
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have repeatedly been shown in medical and psychological research to have profound effects on an individual’s mental and physical health. The concept was first developed through a collaboration
between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente in the 1990s. In 1998, Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda published the groundbreaking Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study). For the
first time, the study systematically demonstrated a strong association between adverse experiences in childhood—including abuse, neglect, domestic violence, parental alcohol misuse, and mental illness in the household—and physical and psychological health problems in adulthood.
In The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk (2014) likewise argues that trauma is not an experience that can simply be “forgotten.” Rather, its effects may persist in physiological responses and patterns of perception, emotion, and behaviour. Without appropriate support and intervention, these effects do not necessarily disappear with time. In The Deepest Well, Nadine Burke Harris further observes that contemporary healthcare systems often overlook the long-term stress and lived experiences underlying illness. She proposes that effective intervention does not lie in “eliminating” or forgetting trauma, but
in interdisciplinary approaches—including safe relationships, psychotherapy, emotional regulation, and nutrition—that enable the body to relearn what safety feels like.
Moreover, these adversities are not evenly distributed across society. Recent analysis of the 2023 OxWell Student Survey in England found that socioeconomically disadvantaged females and adolescents reporting other or undisclosed gender identities experienced among the highest levels of emotional problems and some of the strongest associations between maltreatment and emotional difficulties (Havers et al., 2026).
Structural conditions influence both exposure to childhood adversity and access to resources for recovery. An umbrella review of 25 meta-analyses found that childhood maltreatment was associated with a wide range of adult
psychosocial outcomes, although the strength and quality of evidence varied across outcomes (Zhang et al., 2025).
Adverse childhood experiences often shape the perceptual structures through which a person understands the world throughout their life. Yet no one can choose their own childhood. This inability to return to and revise one’s starting point is itself a form of structural injustice.
Within this context, I began exploring the relationship between virtual experience and bodily perception. Research on the rubber hand illusion and virtual embodiment shows that multisensory cues can produce a sense of ownership over artificial or virtual bodies (Botvinick & Cohen, 1998; Slater et al., 2010). Avatar embodiment may also influence perception,
implicit attitudes, behaviour, and responses to personal problems (Banakou et al., 2013; Osimo et al., 2015; Yee & Bailenson, 2007). These findings raise a crucial question: when social structures cannot be transformed in the short term, might virtual experiences offer a means of reshaping patterns of perception and decision-making?
My creative project, Digital Twins Save the World, begins with thisquestion. Bringing together social structures, developments inartificial intelligence and virtual technologies, and perspectives fromcognitive psychology and philosophy, the project constructs aspeculative narrative about the future condition of humanity andconsiders how these three forces might co-evolve.The work is set in a future society that places excessive emphasis onachievement, efficiency, and utility. In this world, “independence” and“being true to oneself” are regarded as the highest values, while“love”—whether expressed through intimate relationships, parent–childbonds, or friendship—is considered inefficient, or even a waste of time.As a result of this value system, many children grow up without adequatecare, particularly in elite families that conform most closely tosociety’s collective goals.Scientific research reveals that, upon reaching adulthood, theseindividuals display significant disparities in learning ability,emotional regulation, attention, and stress management. They have alower tolerance for frustration and struggle to commit themselves tolong-term plans and goals. They consequently begin to question thesocial structure, demanding compensation for the developmentalopportunities lost through adverse childhood experiences and assertingtheir right to an equal capacity to pursue success.Against this backdrop, research institutions draw upon empiricalstudies demonstrating the effects of virtual avatars on human behaviourand cognition. Taking into account cost, accessibility, and the need forextensive personalisation, they begin offering a human-assistancesystem known as the “Persona 0”. In addition to their own consciousness,users are given an AI consciousness that synchronises with their dailylives, emotions, and preferences, but is deliberately designed not tocarry their childhood trauma. Persona 0 offers guidance on everydaydecisions, assists with interpersonal interactions, and may eventemporarily communicate with others on the user’s behalf in certainsituations. Its purpose is to help users practise psychologicallyhealthy choices and mature interpersonal strategies, thereby creatingan alternative pathway towards success.Digital Twins Save the World does not attempt to offer definitiveanswers. Instead, through this speculative future scenario, it invitesaudiences into a dialogue about AI, consciousness, technology, andsocial structures. In virtual worlds, how are human consciousness,self-identity, and social structures related? Under such conditions,how might human beings come to understand and fulfil themselves?
