디지털 트윈 시대의‘장소성’과 문화영토의 존재론 - 실재-가상 간 경계의 해체와 문화적 주체 형성 = The Ontology of Place and Cultural Territory in the Age of Digital Twin - The Dissolution of the Real–Virtual Boundary and the Formation of Cultural Subjectivity

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study begins with the premise that digital twin technology is not merely a tool for spatial replication, but a transformative paradigm that reorganizes the structure of human existence and the perception of place. Digital twins not only simulate physical reality in three-dimensional models, but also reconstruct the conditions of perception, temporal flow, memory formation, and embodied practice through algorithms and interfaces. Such technology blurs the boundary between physical and virtual reality, deeply intervening in the very way humans“dwell”in the world. Rather than replicating reality, the digital twin functions as a new technocultural environment that designs, predicts, and regulates reality-ultimately shaping human subjectivity.
Drawing on key concepts from contemporary philosophy- Heidegger’s ontology of dwelling, Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception, Foucault’s heterotopia, and Baudrillard’s simulacra-this paper examines whether the space constituted by digital twins can truly function as a place. Particular attention is paid to how digital twins operate across domains such as urban planning, cultural heritage preservation, and immersive tourism, where they replicate memory, guide sensation, and design identity. In doing so, this study shows that place is not a neutral visual environment but a product of political and cultural power relations. While digital twins evolve to enhance user immersion and experiential interactivity, such experiences often operate under predesigned algorithms and controlled user flows, posing significant challenges to authentic placeness.
This paper further explores how predictive temporalities, real-time feedback loops, and immersive user interfaces reconfigure human autonomy and interpretive agency. The digital twin environment is presented not merely as a mirror of the real, but as a technocultural apparatus that defines the very conditions of existence. Human beings are no longer passive users, but “data subjects” whose existence is shaped within the limits of designed memories and structured perception.
In conclusion, this study calls for a humanities-based engagement within the technological interior, emphasizing that digital twins are not merely tools of efficiency and convenience, but crucial cultural devices that define the meaning of place, the right to memory, and the ethics of practice-raising essential questions about how technological progress must respond to the evolution of human identity.