The CADWall display with a familiar Windows desktop interface, generated through the XDS Control Center software suite. This hybrid visualization canvas enables cross-functional teams to view multiple sources of stereo 3-D and non-stereo data simultaneously in multiple windows for intuitive analysis, better collaboration, and increased productivity. (Images courtesy of Barco)

The tension between the world’s rising energy demands and depleting resources has motivated leading energy companies all over the world to rethink how they can recover oil and gas reserves more efficiently through better asset management. One of the roadblocks in this process is the amount of information available. While enormous amounts of data can be gathered, there is often too much complex information to assimilate and understand to make faster, more accurate decisions. However, recent evolutions in professional visualization have enabled companies to display vastly different types of data simultaneously on one large canvas.

Key challenges

Data management and analysis is a crucial issue for oil and gas companies. Conservative estimates indicate that oil and gas companies collect more than 1 million miles (more than 1.6 million km) of seismic data each year worldwide. This presents a considerable challenge to companies striving to exploit this information for competitive advantage. That’s why more importance is now placed on cross-functional teams that can work together in real time.

Typically, the infrastructure that supports cross-site collaboration in major oil and gas companies consists of a number of computers, networks, software applications, and display equipment. To allow users to interact with each other fluently while sharing the same information, companies often need to implement various and costly third-party solutions that do not integrate well with one another.

Displaying a few geophysical data fields, for example, is done sequentially and then discussed via other means with another device that is connected to the display system. To make matters worse, these display systems often possess their own proprietary interfaces that take some amount of time to work with efficiently.

The latest visualization technology offers new and better ways for asset teams to collaborate on large datasets. The key to this is a recently developed software suite, the XDS Control Center. It makes the wealth of complex information easier to understand and enables oil and gas experts to look at multiple sources of data simultaneously so that multidisciplinary teams can grasp correlations between several datasets immediately and intuitively.

Faster, more efficient collaboration

The software suite is unique in that it is compatible with an entire range of display systems. This includes single projectors, multiprojector display walls, cube displays, and LCD flat panels. On each system it offers the same look and feel: a widescreen, familiar Windows desktop with the control center as the central collaboration tool. Its most eye-catching feature is that it allows multiple sources (any combination of 2-D and 3-D stereo) on-screen simultaneously, in any desired configuration. Users can freely move, resize or make these source windows overlap with mouse and keyboard.

Simultaneously, visible sources can come from a wide variety of inputs such as laptops, networked computers, 3-D workstations, DVD players, or live video feeds. Users can retrieve computer desktops from the network and even take control of these external computers to minimize the amount of time they need to get the right source. This is also a big timesaver when teams need to look at two sets of 3-D stereo data from all angles, and it enables them to control them both with the same mouse and keyboard.
The control center has a videoconferencing module built in. From its phonebook, one team can simply dial up another team and get to work. The display walls’ detailed resolution will let each team clearly see what’s going on (on each side) while they discuss the same sources in real time. Remote participants on the collaboration session (e.g., a team on an offshore oil rig) can upload their desktop content to the display directly or even share their data among multiple display systems in the network.

More information, more resolution

To the oil and gas industry, insight into the finest details of geophysical data is critical to make profit or correctly gauge new potential discoveries. As such, the greater a display system’s pixel real estate, the greater a team’s chances of arriving at the right conclusions. While the high-end resolution for professional applications is currently 1080p HD (with a distinct move towards WUXGA), which allows users to visualize content in a way closer to human perception, newer display technologies have correctly anticipated the demand for ever greater resolutions.

There are two distinct routes to solve this issue. The first is to increase the pixel count per projector. Towards that end, there are projection systems on the market with resolutions between three and 10 megapixels and flat panel display technology with native resolutions up to 8 megapixels (quadruple HD). The other route is multiprojector integration into a display system. To achieve one multimegapixel image free of color, brightness, or overlap disturbances, leading display manufacturers have engineered several technologies. These take care of eliminating blurry overlap zones between projections and automatically match color or brightness differences between individual projectors. Lastly, advanced warping technology ensures correct projection across curved or multisided screens.

Some of the world’s leading oil and gas organizations are using the desktop integration approach in their everyday E&P operations to maximize output and improve workflow.

Noble Energy

Noble Energy is an independent energy company in worldwide oil and gas E&P. The company operates primarily in the Rocky Mountains, Mid-continent, and deepwater Gulf of Mexico areas in the US, with key international operations offshore Israel, UK, and West Africa. Noble Energy’s management team decided a new visualization center would greatly improve collaboration between their various expert teams, enhancing decision-making processes and stimulating productivity. They also wanted a premium display system to deliver impressive presentations and showcase their leading position in the industry.

Noble Energy implemented Barco’s large-scale display system, the CADWall, for its new visualization center. The system includes an XDS-1000 display management system. Asset teams from Noble Energy can now share and analyze seismic data in 3-D while viewing other ancillary information such as a financial spreadsheet, a video
presentation, and information from the Internet. Users can update content in real time via the network and can also hold extremely realistic videoconferencing sessions with geographically distributed staff.

“The CADWall delivers the pixels, the stereo imagery, and the user-friendly interface to really create a high-quality environment for anyone who visits the center,” said Susan Cunningham, Noble Energy’s senior vice president of exploration. “We believe that working with a technology leader in visualization confirms our place as technology leader in the oil and gas industry.”