Kuala Lumpur, April 2017
During our presentation at the Franco-Malaysian forum jointly organized by PETRONAS and Business France, we presented the immersive review of points cloud for the industry in virtual reality with the Oculus helmet.
Thanks to its privileged partnership with AVEVA, Orinox has been able to try as an early adopter the new application of augmented reality (or mixed reality) on HoloLens and demonstrate it in the offices of the Malaysian giant Petronas.
This mixed reality experience takes the lucky owner of HoloLens to explore a digital asset with a whole new vision. You can literally see with your own eyes what is contained in your database.
The fact is that a huge amount of documents and engineering data are generated during an industrial site's lifecycle, and it is difficult to have time and precision to review everything. On the other hand, a lot of information is only available for some fields. This phenomenon is accentuated by the accumulation of revised documents.
The HoloLens allows you to directly view this information, such as technical drawings, installation plans, P&ID and data sheets in a visual and localized way. In the presented application, masterplanes are extracted from the database, and the 3D model is overlayed on the 1:8 scale, exactly at the location of the overall plan.
It is then possible to select an avatar, place it at the desired location and from a finger snap, "to enter" into the model with a first-person view of the site on a scale 1: 1 for a design review.
However, with mixed reality, the user does not lose contact with reality! The 3D model interferes with reality but the user can still see through the room in which he is, grab a pen, write on the board etc.
The user becomes actor in his own experience because the HoloLens recognizes gestures and voice commands. Thus, it is possible to access the menu, move in the 3D model, change the scale, display technical information, or even locate the noise in the installation (for instance, a faulty pump in this scenario).
The technical information and 3D model can be stored on the HoloLens from a USB cable or downloaded from the database in real time with a wireless connection. The user's vision can also be projected onto a screen to be shared and commented on.
HoloLens prepares the ground for a new apprehension and visualization of the dual digital of an industrial installation. New applications can be developed, such as the projection of the inspection database during a review, or the vision of pipes buried beneath the ground, which will be brought about by specific customer requirements, SaaS and carried by the cloud.
You can view this experience here from the PETRONAS tours in Kuala Lumpur.
We are very excited to see that the leading player in the Malaysian Oil & Gas market understands the benefits of digital asset and is following the digital path.
Below an explanatory video by AVEVA:
Writer: François MARTINET
Position: Orinox Engineer
Mail: martinet.françois@orinox.com
Linkedin: François Martinet