Like most technologies, the beginnings of augmented reality (AR) were humble. At the time, the idea of overlaying 3D content into our real world was the talk of science fiction. Making it a reality was revolutionary, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t limitations to its capabilities. For each limitation however, there were countless applications of this technology that would drastically revolutionize some of the most foundational industries in the world.
One example? Oil and gas.
Right alongside artificial intelligence, augmented reality has quickly escalated into one of the most powerful and highly anticipated technologies available. Scanning a QR code with your mobile device turned into having the ability to train a specially designed image as an AR marker. Technology moves forward relentlessly so, naturally, even those days are gone.
AR is literally changing how we view the world and it’s becoming a part of our everyday life. With that vision in mind, years ago, our research and development team quickly got to work on the the next evolutionary step in augmented reality. The result is named Adroit.
Adroit is unlike other augmented reality providers in that it empowers users to literally Augment Anything™ without the use of dreaded, ugly and unscalable AR markers. Regardless of an object’s size, shape, texture, lighting conditions (the list goes on), Adroit is able to immediately recognize it and overlay valuable information. Information like: tutorials, maintenance updates, walkthroughs and more.
If you’re wondering how exactly augmented reality is going to become a part of your everyday life, our reply is simple. The workplace.
Here at Gravity Jack, we want to take a deeper look at how specific industries will benefit from implementing augmented reality. This week, we will be taking a look at the opportunities that Adroit and augmented reality bring to the oil and gas industry.
As with many industries, safety and efficiency are two of the biggest concerns for the oil and gas industry. Adroit is capable of solving these challenging issues by wearing an augmented reality enabled headset or simply by using a mobile device.
Safety Improvements with Adroit Augmented Reality
Working in the oilfield is an around the clock occupation that implements serious safety requirements due to the numerous hazards involved. One of the main hazards of the drilling industry is the very real potential for fires and explosions.
As it stands now, OSHA requires all oil and gas companies to have pre-planned exit routes and emergency safety plans in case of a fire. Amongst the confusion and chaos of an explosive fire, we would imagine it could be difficult to safely navigate your way out of the dangerous work zone.
In this instance, if the oil and gas crew members were wearing AR enabled headsets they could have a virtual path drawn out for them that would guide them to safety. The technology would immediately detect where exactly the threat was coming from and give the crew member the shortest and safest directions displayed on their headset.
We could even take things a step further by having the headsets GPS enabled. This would give the fire department and the oil and gas company exact numbers on who has made it to safety and who has not. The GPS would also give them an exact location of where to find the stranded crew member.
When it comes to the oil extraction equipment itself, there are several machines moving at lightning speeds. If something is malfunctioning, it should go without saying that you don’t want to stick your hand in a moving part. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a friendly reminder?
Adroit augmented reality could be that friend, as it is even capable of identifying parts and pieces that are in motion. The AR tech would scan the equipment, identify the problem, and flash a reminder on the headset stating that the machinery needs to be turned off before proceeding.
In most cases, safety in the workplace leads to efficiency. Augmented reality can help there too.
Efficiency With Adroit Augmented Reality
On a moment’s notice, a crew member may be required to make a series of repairs to a malfunctioning oil rig. At times, it isn’t clear what exact part needs to be repaired so the crew will have to revert to a system of trial and error and diagnostics.
Adroit has the ability to scan items as large as massive machinery or as small as a bolt. With a single scan, the technology can help identify what precisely is malfunctioning and give exact step-by-step instructions on how to fix it. The instructions will be seamlessly overlaid on the object, leaving both hands to safely work on the machinery with minimal distractions.
Before the day is over, a checklist could be completed, verifying that a crew member looked over all pertinent machinery. Adroit can scan the machinery and automatically check off proper elements for the crew member. Once all of the required machines have been scanned, Adroit would be able to bundle up all of the information, put it in a nicely packaged report, and send it right off to management.
Our Conclusion
This is all possible — and just the start.
As it stands, augmented is already finding its way into the workplace. For example, Boeing, the airplane manufacturer implemented Google Glass along its assembly lines and saw a 25% reduction in the production time.
We believe that as more of these increased efficiency numbers are released there will be companies open to the idea of adopting augmented reality in the workplace. For that reason we will continue to analyze specific industries that we believe could see some of the biggest benefits from implementing augmented reality. If you feel that your industry could benefit from Adroit, or simply have an idea for our next blog post, we want to hear about it! Fill out the form on our contact us page — or send us an email!
