The Augmented Reality oil and gas industry is the next new development that the world is seeing. AR has constantly expanded its application across industries, simplifying jobs and streamlining processes. In the oil and gas industry, which has to deal with heavy equipment and machinery, AR will likely help stakeholders in numerous ways. Taking inspiration from the manufacturing industry, it could employ AR in its training module or equip a maintenance team to improve the ongoing maintenance process. It will explore the various ways you can employ Augmented Reality in the oil and gas sectors, as well as its benefits and associated aspects.
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented Reality is a modern-day technology that allows you to create applications that overlay digital content in the physical environment. It uses assets like 3d models, images, animation, music, video, audio, and text to enhance the user’s experience.
In the context of AR oil and gas, imagine overlaying digital media on equipment in its physical state, where you add a little text that pops up to explain its features. You can also add video content that reviews its workings or walks users through the operation steps. All of these can significantly enhance your experience with newly bought machinery or help someone new who is supposed to operate it.
Also, you could recreate the machinery as a 3D model and add animation that introduces it and describes how it works in augmented reality. This could become a virtual demonstration or an exciting slide in your presentation.
Augmented Reality oil and gas industry
The oil and gas industry involves intensive manual labor despite constant efforts to automate things. Besides, it looks for innovative applications that can further efficiency while reducing the risks involved. Augmented Reality is one technology that makes waves and finds applications in industries of all sizes and nature. Undoubtedly, it has made the manufacturing industry efficient by integrating it into their workflow at various stages, and it can do similar things with oil and gas companies.
Planning
An oil and gas company usually has massive structures, buildings, equipment, and machinery built near the sea. Dealing with them can be much easier and more convenient with Augmented Reality integrated into the process right from the planning stage. Usually, when you hire unskilled staff to operate machinery or to be part of a process like extracting and processing oil and gas, several iterations ensure they do it correctly and efficiently. However, when a comprehensive AR-powered process flow is designed to educate the staff involved, it will feel familiar and have a higher chance of success with perfection right from the first go.
Training for high-risk scenarios
Although manuals can be handy to familiarize you with the various aspects of machinery, you still have to deal with them in person. There are always chances of human error or unexpected failure for the newbies, thus posing high-risk situations. You can address them with AR-based training designed for high-risk scenarios. Imagine designing a training module replicating all possible real-life scenarios of an equipment failure, addressing a mistake or process failure. It will equip staff with solutions to problems when they face such situations while they work.
Maintenance
Maintenance is a critical department of an oil and gas company. Regular and timely maintenance checks obsolete machinery or parts that need replacement. Besides, it keeps stakeholders informed and updated about the current state of the setup used in extracting, storing, and refining oil and gas. AR-based maintenance makes this critical process more efficient and powerful. Frequent inspection and timely repair become a lot easier when you can conduct equipment or process inspection in detail with Augmented Reality visualization and implement preventive and corrective maintenance.
How will Augmented Reality in the oil and gas industry benefit your business?
Remote Setup
One major benefit of Augmented Reality in the oil industry is that it allows remote viewing. Like in retail and eCommerce, people can view furniture by placing it in their own space, or real estate users can take a property’s walk-through, all from the comfort of their home. Similarly, you can set up remote viewing or walk-through of your oil and gas setup, the extraction process, storage, and processing. Also, inspection can be done remotely to define repair and maintenance.
Regular detailed inspection
Another crucial benefit is the feasibility of regular inspection while being convenient. With an AR-powered inspection, you can inspect the site, the various machines, their components, and the setup process as frequently as you wish to ensure that things are on track.
Fast and efficient repair
Technicians and maintenance staff can use Augmented Reality to examine the machinery and components that are causing trouble. This will lead to faster inspection, and thus, a proactive fax can be initiated, which in turn saves you from operation delay and leads to an efficient workflow.
Reduce potential risk
Staying near larger machines and liquid and gas-based chemicals and dealing with them daily increases the chances of accidents and can be harmful. You can mitigate this by staying there for the minimum possible time when physical presence is required. Other times when AR-based visualization can suffice, it will reduce your exposure to danger. Besides, AR-based realistic training significantly reduces the potential risks from a lack of awareness and training.
Key Takeaways
Augmented Reality is the next big thing in technology, potentially transforming crucial aspects of businesses, including those of the oil and gas industry. The existing applications of AR have proven to make jobs better for businesses, with its enhanced and elevated visual and experience aspects. They will continue to amaze us in times to come. The same is true for the oil and gas industry, which has only begun to realize its potential use. So, if you are willing to pioneer your industry and add Augmented Reality magic to your oil and gas business, start your journey today on the PlugXR platform. Create amazing AR experiences that simplify your jobs and make them efficient and easy. Book a demo now!