Industrial XR Use Cases, Programs, and Challenges

/

One of the best ways to learn about industrial XR is to hear from leaders and companies using and scaling immersive technologies. That’s exactly what the XR End User Roundtable session at Industrial Immersive Week 2022 brought to attendees. 

This is a recap of that session, but you can view it in full with an all-access on-demand pass to all Industrial Immersive Week 2022 sessions for just $99. Use code IMMERSIVEALLACCESS99. 

For this XR user session, our panelists were:

  • Paul Daley - ConocoPhillips

  • Susan Spark - Schlumberger

  • JB Farge - Subsea 7

  • Thor Schueler - Avanade

  • Jennifer Rogers - IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee

Each company represented on the panel is at a different stage of XR implementation. 

Subsea 7, according to Farge, has built an immersive 3D theater for things like design review and other collaboration. Pilot projects have started, ended, and evolved—each changing pace as COVID hit and subsequently waned. One area that has seen a lot of success is 3D scanning. Subsea 7 works with very heavy, very expensive assets—ones that can’t be visited without prior authorization. 3D mapping helps experts visualize the assets from afar, reducing risk and bringing the team “closer” to the assets. Farge said, “The whole idea is to bridge the gap between the offshore world and the back office world as much as possible.”

As for ConocoPhillips, Daley said, “We’ve had our toe in the water for a few years.” Yet again, COVID got in the way and they’re focused on finding the ideal, most effective applications for XR. “The toe in the water,” Daley said, “is just getting us walking.”

For Schlumberger, Spark pointed out that “it depends” when it comes to progress. It depends on the department, the project, the team, etc. Training is probably the area furthest along, but now the company is focusing on stepping back to focus on the “not so sexy stuff” like hardware tracking, network security, enterprise-wide deployment, and obsolescence strategies. 

Immersive technology has been touted for training and development. But, as Rodgers from IEEE pointed out, XR can’t be treated like traditional learning formats. “Immersive really shines when we put people in a simulated environment,” she said. “Multiple choice questions where people answer right or wrong and then get a score—that’s not immersive. XR really shines when it allows people to have an experience and that changes their behavior.” 

The panelists, for the most part, were experience similar high-level challenges:

  • Connectivity in the field

  • Change management

  • Scaling hardware usage

  • Ebbs and flows of a commodity-based business

  • Standards, from learning outcomes to data privacy standards

Thanks to our Industrial Immersive Week panelists, speakers, attendees, and sponsors. 

View dozens of speakers and Industrial Immersive Week 2022 sessions for just $99. 

Discount Code: IMMERSIVEALLACCESS99 

Go ahead. Immerse yourself.