沉浸式游戏技术正在为石油和天然气公司揭开地下的神秘面纱。

该行业长期以来一直在与信息孤岛作斗争。地球科学家和钻井作业团队通常无法轻松访问相同的信息，这可能不利于沟通、生产和安全。

访问只是等式的一半。能够理解或可视化 3D 地下数据可以将操作提升到一个新的水平。

三十多年前，大约在最初的索尼 Playstation 达到最先进水平的时候，各公司开始投入数百万美元创建实时运营中心，并配备当时先进的 3D 观看功能。

用户戴上特殊的眼镜，可以在屏幕上观看 3D 图像，并且可以与房间中的其他人讨论可视化数据。然而，这些高成本的房间却没有得到充分利用。

现在，虚拟现实 (VR)、3D 可视化和相关技术已经足够先进，现场的钻井工程师和办公室的地球科学同事可以使用游戏耳机同时查看相同的 3D 地下数据，并且他们的个性化 3D 化身可以与在与 3D 数据可视化交互时彼此交互。

BaselineZ 软件被认为是弥合筒仓之间差距并改进 3D 地质和油藏建模工作流程的一种方法。它起源于微软于 2016 年首次推出 HoloLens 耳机。

Cravtive Technologies BV 业务开发经理 Jide Ayangade 表示：“这是大规模可视化复杂地下数据、查看地质情况并将其呈现给利益相关者、工程师、管理人员的完美方式。” BaselineZ 软件的开发人员。“我们只是希望有一种方法可以轻松有效地查看 3D 数据，使其随时可用并且团队能够协作。”

他补充说，目标是让钻井工程师、地下地球科学家和管理团队处于同一基线上。

BaselineZ 体验类似于 3D Teams 或 Zoom 通话（或多人游戏），参与者可以在其中看到其他参与者的化身。阿扬加德说，他们“实际上在同一个地方，但实际上相距数英里”。

他们还可以定位地质数据、钻井数据、岩心数据和报告，从而可以“以前所未有的方式可视化数据”。

他说，核心数据就是一个例子。尽管许多运营商正在努力将岩心数据数字化，但希望研究岩心数据的地球科学家通常必须前往物理岩心存储库位置。

“耳机提供了一种以易于访问的方式永久保存这些核心数据的方法，”阿扬加德说。他补充说，该系统使得以一种非常容易访问的方式可视化跨不同领域的多尺度数据成为可能。

BaselineZ 与 Baker Hughes 的 JewelSuite 生态系统和 SLB 的 Petrel E&P 软件平台无缝连接，并可直接将数据连接到 RESQML 等标准数据格式。

Ayangade 表示，BaselineZ 可用于勘探与生产作业、碳捕获和封存、地质封存、地热和采矿等领域的会议、培训或知识共享经验。他说，该软件可以“快速、直观地进行更好的资源评估，有可能增加更多储量并提高钻井作业的性能”。

他说，地震数据包括属性、痕迹和体积，而井数据包括偏差、轨迹和日志。

“这不仅仅是为了可视化而放入静态 3D 对象，”他说。“将全部数据、全部数据放入沉浸式环境中，通过交互和数据分析的可能性，实现大规模的真正地下数据体验。”

他表示，客户对使用该技术的兴趣部分是出于规避风险的愿望，特别是在高价值、复杂的资产中。

“如果你正在地质层中钻一口高价值的井，而作为地下专家，你无法与钻井团队进行有效沟通，那么就有错过目标的风险，”他说。“那”的成本是什么？存在穿过压力过大或压力过低的区域的风险，这可能会导致干预成本。”

BaselineZ 还引起了人们对地质导向的兴趣，以帮助将井眼保持在该区域并避免与其他井眼发生碰撞。

“我们认为真正的 3D 可视化是帮助解决其中一些问题的关键，”他说。

BaselineZ 依托三大主要技术——云计算、无线连接和可视化硬件。他说，目标是提供联合 3D 地下观看体验。

他说，尽管石油行业的一些人对游戏技术很熟悉，但对一些人来说，使用耳机工作还是新鲜事。BaselineZ 使用 Unity 3D 可视化引擎，该引擎也用于游戏。他说，Unity 3D 引擎可实现跨设备功能和多用户交互。

BaselineZ 可在 iOS、Android、Microsoft 和 Meta 应用商店中使用，并以软件即服务 (SAAS) 模式获得许可。它允许用户将地下数据从计算机移动到 Microsoft Azure 云，一旦数据到达那里，任何具有 BaselineZ 应用程序和访问凭据的设备都可以看到这些数据。

“无论你使用什么设备，无论是头戴式设备还是移动设备，它们仍然可以查看相同的数据，”他说。

阿扬加德表示，技术和非技术技能组都可以使用该软件。

“我们发现这种可视化有助于弥合部分分歧，”他说。

Immersive gaming technology is opening up the mysteries of the subsurface for oil and gas companies.

The industry has long battled the siloing of information. Geoscientists and drilling operations teams typically don’t have easy access to the same information, which can be a detriment to communication, production and safety.

Access is only half of the equation. Being able to understand or visualize 3D subsurface data can take operations to the next level.

More than three decades ago — around the time the original Sony Playstation was state-of-the-art — companies started devoting millions of dollars to creating real-time operations centers complete with what was then advanced 3D viewing capabilities.

Users donned special glasses that allowed them to view 3D images on the screen, and they were able to discuss the visualized data with others in the room. However, these high-cost rooms were underused.

Now, virtual reality (VR), 3D visualization and related technologies have advanced enough that a drilling engineer in the field and a geosciences colleague in the office can concurrently view the same 3D subsurface data using gaming headsets, and their personalized 3D avatars can converse with each other while interacting with the 3D data visualization.

BaselineZ software was conceived as a way to bridge the gap between silos and improve 3D geological and reservoir modeling workflows. It originated when Microsoft first introduced the HoloLens headset in 2016.

“It was the perfect way to visualize complex subsurface data at scale, to see geology and to be able to present it to the stakeholders, the engineers, the management executives,” said Jide Ayangade, business development manager for Cravtive Technologies BV, the developers of the BaselineZ software. “We just wanted to have a way to view 3D data easily and effectively, have it be readily available at all times and for teams to be able to collaborate.”

The goal was to put the drilling engineer, the subsurface geoscientists and the management team all on the same baseline, he added.

The BaselineZ experience is akin to a 3D Teams or Zoom call (or multiplayer games), in which participants can see avatars of other participants. They are “virtually in the same place, but physically miles apart,” Ayangade said.

They can also position geological data, drilling data, core data and reports, making it possible to “visualize data in ways that it hasn’t been visualized before.”

One example, he said, is core data. Geoscientists who wish to study core data typically have to go to a physical core repository location, although there is an effort underway by many operators to digitalize core data.

“The headsets provide a way to immortalize this core data in a way that is readily accessible,” Ayangade said. The system, he added, makes it possible to visualize multiscale data across different domains in a very accessible manner.

BaselineZ has a seamless connection with Baker Hughes’ JewelSuite Ecosystem and SLB’s Petrel E&P Software Platform and direct data connector to standard data formats such as RESQML.

Ayangade said BaselineZ can be used for meetings, training or knowledge-sharing experiences in E&P operations, carbon capture and storage, geological storage, geothermal and mining. The software makes it possible to “very quickly and visually do a better resource assessment, potentially add more reserves and improve performance of drilling operations,” he said.

Seismic data, he said, includes attributes, traces and volumes while well data includes deviation, trajectory and logs.

“We’re not just putting in static 3D objects for visualization,” he said. “We put in the whole data, the whole volume into the immersive environment enabling true subsurface data experience at scale with interactions and data analytics possibilities.”

Customer interest in using the technology is partly driven by a desire to avoid risk, particularly in high-value, complex assets, he said.

“If you are drilling a high-value well into a geological formation that you can’t, as a subsurface specialist, communicate effectively to the drilling team, there’s a risk of missing the target,” he said. “What’s the cost of that? There’s a risk of going through a zone that might be over- or under-pressured, which may result in intervention costs.”

BaselineZ has also drawn interest for use in geosteering to help keep wellbores in the zone and avoid collisions with other wellbores.

“We see true 3D visualization as being key to helping address some of that,” he said.

BaselineZ piggybacks on three main technologies — cloud computing, wireless connectivity and visualization hardware. The goal is to provide a joint 3D subsurface viewing experience, he said.

Even though gaming technology is familiar to some demographics in the oil industry, for some, working with the headsets is new, he said. BaselineZ uses the Unity 3D visualization engine, which is also used in gaming. Unity 3D engine enables cross-device capabilities and multi-user interactions, he said.

BaselineZ, which is available in the iOS, Android, Microsoft and Meta app stores, is licensed on a software as a service (SAAS) model. It allows users to move their subsurface data from their computers to the Microsoft Azure cloud, and once the data is there, any device with the BaselineZ app and access credentials can see the data.

“It doesn’t matter what device you’re using, whether it’s a head-mounted device or a mobile device, they can still view the same data,” he said.

Ayangade said the software is accessible to technical and non-technical skillsets.

“We’re seeing that this kind of visualization is helpful for bridging some of that divide,” he said.