#REDIRECT Simulation hypothesis
A simulated reality is an approximation of reality created in a simulation, usually in a set of circumstances in which something is engineered to appear real when it is not.
Most concepts invoking a simulated reality relate to some form of computer simulation, whether through the creation of a virtual reality that creates appearance of being in a real world, or a theoretical process like mind uploading, in which a mind could be uploaded into a computer simulation. A digital twin is a simulation of a real thing, created for purposes such as testing engineering outcomes.
One concept of a simulated reality, the simulation hypothesis, proposes that what we experience as our reality is actually a simulation within a system being operated externally to our reality.
In non-computer applications, the term Potemkin village is used to describe a faked appearance of a real situation to create a false impression. The phrase comes from the likely false claim that the lover of Empress Catherine II of Russia had simulated villages built on the path that the Empress was travelling to impress her with the prosperity of that region of Russia. A façade on a building similarly presents a false image of the building being more substantial than the construction behind the façade, as found in Western false front architecture, where towns would add false fronts to buildings to create a false appearance of prosperity.