Tuesday 22 March 2011

Virtual Reality now available on iPhone and iPad

Following the successful launch of the innovative Virtual Reality training system EYESIM™, Invensys Operations Management, a global provider of technology systems, software solutions and consulting services to the process and manufacturing industries, takes the next step in further development of this ground breaking technology. The launch of the iPhone and iPad apps adds true mobility to the EYESIM system allowing "in the field" access to first-principle simulation and augmented reality. The iPhone and iPad apps were demonstrated publicly for the first time in Europe at the Gastech Conference & Exhibition in Amsterdam in March 2011.

EYESIM Immersive Virtual Reality is a comprehensive solution linking Control Room Operators to Field Operators, Maintenance Operators, and other critical team members in their process, by means of a High-Fidelity Process Simulation coupled with a Virtual Walkthrough Plant Environment. EYESIM provides a complete Plant Crew Training System, capturing best practices, rarely used procedures and other operations and makes them systems of record for continuous use and refinement.

The introduction of mobile EYESIM extends the usability of the system to iPhone or iPad users, allowing these mobile users to “virtually” be trained on systems, operational procedures and plant environments. The apps are particularly suited to the gas exploration and production industry, where remote and unsafe locations are increasingly the norm.

EYESIM addresses the real-life challenges that face operators and maintenance staff daily and is of particular value in the area of safety. It can be used to rehearse safety procedures with standardised, documented processes; for operator initiation training; updating health and ensure appropriate responses occur to infrequent, but safety-critical events; and gaining consistency across operations corporate-wide.

It also captures the inherent value in customer’s worker’s knowledge base, integrating into a comprehensive training program that grows with their needs. Adopting this model to mobile devices allows “untethered” access to procedures, processes and operational statement of work’s without having to be sitting at a terminal.

Mobile EYESIM is used for classroom training simulating plant experiences. By using this, Instructors and Supervisors can monitor dynamically, and in real time, a trainee’s position and behaviour in the virtual plant environment through a client application running on an iPhone or iPad. All “touch” facilities are available for a complete user experience. It allows workers to more fully experience “real life” situations through an iPad or iPhone interface, on the plant floor, away from the classroom.

EYESIM Virtual Reality Training enables engineers and operators to navigate the plant in a highly realistic and safe training environment on their iPhone or iPad screens. This application provides a combination of virtual reality technologies with high-fidelity process and control simulation, computer-based maintenance and documentation management. Maurizio Rovaglio, Head of Innovation and Emerging Technologies at Invensys Operations Management, describes the iPhone and iPad application as a mobile station that can be used in conjunction with the main application, enabling younger operators and engineers to connect to the server and enjoy the same training experience as on the main system.

Instructors and supervisors can monitor in real time the position and trainees behaviour within the plant environment through a client application running on an iPhone or iPad being connected to EYESIM iPhone or iPad server. Instructors and supervisors can interact with virtual reality gas plant operations by opening or closing valves, changing weather conditions or introducing malfunctions, by using the “touch screen” commands.

Maurizio Rovaglio highlights, “it is designed to provide complete plant crew training to improve skills that are safety-critical by enabling operators to perform tasks in a simulated environment, allowing them to react quickly and correctly, facilitating reactions in high stress conditions, and instilling standards for team training and communications”. He went on to explain, “it can be used to train operators on new systems, as well as train new or younger operators and engineers in a real-time, immersive environment, helping processors and manufacturers retain and replenish the specialised knowledge they need to improve their operations.”

John Gilmore, Director of Global Industry Solutions Upstream Oil & Gas at Invensys Operations Management says, “It is extremely costly to put a person into the plant for the purpose of training principally because of the plant size or location. If we could do 80-90 percent of this training in a virtual environment we can significantly cut down on cost and risk, avoiding the risk of injury and making mistakes, such as spills and the like due to inexperience”. He also highlighted the significance of such training in hazardous or extreme environments. The risk to untrained or a partially trained person in environments such as the Arctic or a sour gas plant, where conditions are extreme due to high pressures and temperatures can be great; EYESIM provides an ideal solution in these cases.

Invensys Operations Management's EYESIM technology is proven and continues to provide enhanced training together with higher levels of safety in gas exploitation and production environments.

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