Advanced Collaborative Environments Research Articles

Toward natural multi-user interaction in advanced collaborative display environments

Large high-resolution displays have become widely spread in research centers, laboratories, and public spaces during the last decade. There have been various research efforts in transformation of these displays from passive screens to interactive environments where multiple users can interact independently with multi-touch surfaces, in-air interaction or pointing devices. Such systems provide basic multi-user interaction, i.e., two or more users can interact concurrently. However, continuous user tracking and association of input events with users, which could considerably improve user experience, is still a largely unexplored topic. In this paper, we present a set of techniques enabling cue-less multi-user interaction in environments where horizontal or vertical high-resolution displays are in the role of central visualization platforms. We define the concept of cue-less multi-user interaction and set of techniques that enable unobtrusive user tracking and their association with input events through combination of a multi-touch surface and a depth sensor. Further, we introduce an open-source framework implementing techniques behind this concept and their evaluation in terms of accuracy of user association and the overall system interactivity when integrated with selected distributed rendering middleware.

Self-Help and Leveraging Scale by Means of the Wells' Advanced Collaborative Environment's Global Community of Practice

Summary The Advanced Collaborative Environment Community of Practice (CoP) was formed in March 2009 at the request of BP senior management to share good practice and promote standardization in the area of wells. Its mandate was one of self-help and leveraging scale but working through influence and consensus, with management support rather than by direct authority. The CoP was also required to adhere to company information technology (IT) standards and technology strategy. At the time of the CoP's formation, collaborative environments had been commissioned in various company locations worldwide, including Aberdeen; Baku, Azerbaijan; Houston; Stavanger; and Tangguh, Indonesia. In the absence of standardized requirements for Wells’ collaborative environments and with an emphasis on innovation, each of these centers had been developed independently, strongly influenced by local ideas, needs, and resources. However, it was evident that connectivity between the different locations and with other disciplines was lacking, and that effort was duplicated. The CoP currently has more than 30 members, including Wells, subsurface, IT, and well technology from 12 locations worldwide. It meets virtually, involving the widest possible membership in different time zones. It has been instrumental in progressing and communicating standards, supporting the introduction and use of common tools and technology, leveraging members’ knowledge and expertise, and helping startups in new areas. Overall, the CoP has been a great success. The paper describes the CoP's evolution, from its formation to the present, and critically examines its achievements, shortfalls, and future goals. In a rapidly changing technical environment, achieving and maintaining alignment between the diverse stakeholders in a medium to large organization can be challenging. The CoP has earned its credibility and has proved to be an effective means of sharing experience and making good use of scarce resources, both keys for adoption at scale.

The Implementation of a Drilling-and-Completions Advanced Collaborative Environment—Taking Advantage of Change

Summary Advanced collaborative environments (ACEs) were planned as an integral part of the operator's new Aberdeen office. The move in early 2008 coincided with a major business reorganization that prompted a critical reassessment of their scope and functionality. The selected approach is well suited to operations in a mature area. During the pilot project, three ACE implementation types were tested. One of these provided dedicated data feeds and visualization tools within the normal work area, operating only during normal working hours. The other two were (1) an asset-based, on-site, round-the-clock type and (2) an outsourced model, each representing a business-model extreme. The selected configuration was closest to the first of these models, with careful provision for future growth. The results of the pilot studies supported the business case but suggested that the realization of many of the benefits would hinge on attitudes, behaviors, and working practices. It was concluded that steady growth, based on demand and keeping pace with the changing habits, would give the best return. Detailed plans were created for each of the people, process, technology, environment, and organization components of the operator's ACE model. The new building design and layout has greatly enhanced the overall working environment. Other activities included the upgrading of fiber links, the introduction of an operability laboratory to test the compatibility of data feeds and systems, extensive human-factor studies, contract reassessment, and the introduction of a dedicated ACE support team. By June 2008, seven rigs were being supported simultaneously, including monitoring the progress of a wired-pipe trial in Trinidad. All this has been achieved during a period of outstanding drilling-and-completions (D&Cs) performance. This measured approach has delivered results, helping to win hearts and minds while avoiding overstretching resources. The paper includes details of the pilot project, implementation, and the progress and challenges to date.

Thunder Horse Takes Reservoir Management to the Next Level

This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper OTC 20396, ’Thunder Horse Takes Reservoir Management to the Next Level,’ by G.A. Arnold, S.R. Cavalero, SPE, P.J. Clifford, SPE, E.M. Goebel, D.A. Hutchinson, K.H. Leung, E.N. Paclibon, T.D. Weiss, and D.B. Grass, BP plc, prepared for the 2010 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 3-6 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Thunder Horse is a subsea development of several large complex reservoirs in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Surveillance data and analysis were keys to rapid definition of the subsurface risks. Data from permanent pressure gauges were analyzed with advanced techniques. Reservoir-simulation models were calibrated to the full set of real-time data. Temperature and oil-composition data provided additional controls. Results demonstrated that faults in Thunder Horse, though sealing in some places, do not, in general, result in compartmentalization. Introduction Thunder Horse was discovered in July 1999, with water depths of 5,800 to 6,500 ft. Subsea wells produce to a permanently moored semisubmersible production, drilling, and quarters facility rated at 250,000-STB/D production. The facility is equipped for more than 200,000 B/D of water injection. Thunder Horse consists of two distinct geological structures—Thunder Horse South (THS) and Thunder Horse North (THN). Each structure contains several reservoirs. Production from THS started in June 2008, followed by THN in February 2009. Plateau production of approximately 250,000 STB/D has been maintained since THN came on production. By December 2009, nine wells were on production: four in THS and five in THN. Thunder Horse produces 30°API sweet oil that is undersaturated with a gas/oil ratio (GOR) of approximately 1,000 scf/STB. The bubblepoint pressure is less than 5,500 psi, compared with the initial pressure that exceeded 13,000 psi, giving a high degree of undersaturation. The two greatest subsurface risks before startup were compartmentalization and energy/aquifer strength, both of which link to water-injection needs. The full-length paper details how surveillance, data analysis, and reservoir simulation were used to characterize those risks and to drive field development. Startup and Well Management A document developed across the project, operations, and engineering staff specified goals for field startup including producible-well count, delivery date, operating efficiencies, plant uptime, and integrity maintenance. Clear milestones and system champions were identified. Having clear specific priorities was fundamental to managing simultaneous operations between subsea construction, drilling rigs, and production operations. Production Readiness. The magnitude and complexity of the operation was understood early, with two fields, eight risers, and up to 33 subsea wells feeding the platform. Production-readiness efforts began 4 years before startup. Work fronts included the advanced collaborative environment, handling real-time data, multidiscipline understanding of common procedures, and minimizing production losses.

Implementation of a Drilling-and-Completions Advanced Collaborative Environment - Taking Advantage of Change

This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 123801, "The Implementation of a Drilling-and- Completions Advanced Collaborative Environment - Taking Advantage of Change," by S.J. Sawaryn, SPE, S. Goodwin, A. Deady, SPE, C. Critchley, and B. Swanson, SPE, BP plc, prepared for the 2009 SPE Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Aberdeen, 8–11 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Advanced collaborative environments (ACEs) were planned as an integral part of the operator's new Aberdeen office. The move, in early 2008, coincided with a major business reorganization that prompted a critical reassessment of their scope and functionality. The selected approach is well suited to operations in a mature area. During the pilot project, three ACE implementation types were tested. By June 2008, seven rigs were being supported simultaneously, including monitoring the progress of a wired-pipe trial in Trinidad. Introduction The operator's North Sea activities involve both planning and day-to-day management of platform, mobile-rig, and land-rig operations. The assets on which the rigs operate are in various stages of maturity, with older assets characterized by aging infrastructure and infill-well drilling to reservoirs that are progressively smaller. For these assets, any new drilling activity must fit into the ongoing maintenance schedules, and managing the personnel on board (POB) is critically important. Moving traditional rigsite activities onshore and use of collaborative environments played an important role in the success on the Andrew platform. Drilling and completion activities are more data oriented than ever before, and the same information and understanding is needed at both ends of a conversation. Through collaboration, the life of older assets can be extended, and events can be used to learn and to influence development and operations on younger assets. ACEs, therefore, have a critical role. Project Mercury Project Mercury was established to manage all aspects of the operator's new building, including design and implementation of the operations and drilling ACEs. The Andrew onshore operations center (OOC) had demonstrated the value of collaborative environments for POB management, but had not attempted to address the additional needs and issues that might arise with the use of OOCs to improve drilling performance. An earlier comparison of OOC concepts in the North Sea categorized them according to the degree of technical and sociotechnical content involved in the change and the degree of integration across projects or disciplines. Given the wide range of choices, the Project Mercury team elected to pilot various configurations before selecting one for implementation in the new building.

Technology Focus: Knowledge Management and Training (October 2009)

Technology Focus The inevitable cycles of the energy industry will continue, as will the perceived need for intellectual capital by the oil and gas finders and producers. Intellectual capital is not a line item on a company's balance sheet, yet it is probably one of its most important assets. Organizations take varying approaches to building intellectual capital, from organic development of knowledge to outright acquisition. In an industry that is gradually evolving away from traditional business models, knowledge management will remain a keystone. A wide spectrum presents itself among the 61 papers that comprise this year's offering for this feature. The recurring themes of real-time data capture, data validation, and protocol for data transmission are prevalent. However, a few new, refreshing, worthy trends emerge. These trends appear to evolve beyond the rudimentary "nuts and bolts" of how to handle the substantial volumes of data [now measured in petabytes (1015 bytes)] to building somewhat cerebral processes that will deliver, yes, intellectual capital. Surveillance. Deepwater is a province counted on to deliver the next tranche of significant reserves from known basins of the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, or Brazil or from evolving areas offshore India and Oman. Experienced engineering resources are, more often than not, focused on project engineering rather than on routine surveillance. Yet, this expertise is necessary for surveillance to be both efficient and successful. To bridge this business dichotomy requires development and deployment of knowledge-management tools whereby the expertise of engineers with 25+ years" experience is captured and made available to the 5-years"-experience resources. Advanced Collaborative Environments. It is encouraging that significant investment is being made in environments with clearly stated objectives of improving knowledge capture and eventual application, as well as leveraging the skills and knowledge of experts both internally and externally. Furthermore, an exciting readiness exists to learn from other industries (e.g., the military has had large-scale collaborative projects in place for many years). Strategic Decision Making. The use of tools in decision making, such as advanced risk analysis, value-of-information evaluation, and real-options analysis, is becoming commonplace. How does one guarantee the optimum subjective judgment by experts, or, put differently, how does one invest the company's intellectual capital wisely? With at least a decade of talk on knowledge management under its belt, clearly, the energy industry is refining its approach and beginning to realize dividends of investing in its intellectual capital. Knowledge Management and Training additional reading available at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org IPTC 12035 • "Improvements in the Management of Structured and Unstructured Data" by Mike Garbarini, ExxonMobil, et al. SPE 123213 • "Strategic Decision Making in the Digital Oil Field" by B. Jafarizadeh, SPE, University of Stavanger, et al. SPE 123096 • "What Lessons Can Digital-Oilfield Practitioners Learn From Defence Initiatives Such as Network-Enabled Capability?" by Michael Popham, SPE, BAE Systems, et al.

Grid computing and collaboration technology in support of fusion energy sciences

Science research in general and magnetic fusion research in particular continue to grow in size and complexity resulting in a concurrent growth in collaborations between experimental sites and laboratories worldwide. The simultaneous increase in wide area network speeds has made it practical to envision distributed working environments that are as productive as traditionally collocated work. In computing power, it has become reasonable to decouple production and consumption resulting in the ability to construct computing grids in a similar manner as the electrical power grid. Grid computing, the secure integration of computer systems over high speed networks to provide on-demand access to data analysis capabilities and related functions, is being deployed as an alternative to traditional resource sharing among institutions. For human interaction, advanced collaborative environments are being researched and deployed to have distributed group work that is as productive as traditional meetings. The DOE Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing Program initiative has sponsored several collaboratory projects, including the National Fusion Collaboratory Project, to utilize recent advances in grid computing and advanced collaborative environments to further research in several specific scientific domains. For fusion, the collaborative technology being deployed is being used in present day research and is also scalable to future research, in particular, to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor experiment that will require extensive collaboration capability worldwide. This paper briefly reviews the concepts of grid computing and advanced collaborative environments and gives specific examples of how these technologies are being used in fusion research today.

End-to-end quality of service for high-end applications

High-end networked applications such as distance visualization, distributed data analysis, and advanced collaborative environments have demanding quality of service (QoS) requirements. Particular challenges include concurrent flows with different QoS specifications, high-bandwidth flows, application-level monitoring and control, and end-to-end QoS across networks and other devices. We describe a QoS architecture and implementation that together help to address these challenges. The General-purpose Architecture for Reservation and Allocation (GARA) supports flow-specific QoS specification, immediate and advance reservation, and online monitoring and control of both individual resources and heterogeneous resource ensembles. Mechanisms provided by the Globus Toolkit are used to address resource discovery and security issues when resources span multiple administrative domains. Our prototype GARA implementation builds on differentiated services mechanisms to enable the coordinated management of two distinct flow types—foreground media flows and background bulk transfers—as well as the co-reservation of networks, CPUs, and storage systems. We present results obtained on a wide area differentiated services testbed that demonstrate our ability to deliver QoS for realistic flows.

JAPE: A Prototyping System for Collaborative Virtual Environments

We present JAPE, a flexible prototyping system to support the design of a new advanced collaborative virtual environment. We describe the utilization of different hard- and software components to quickly build a flexible, yet powerful test bed for application and algorithm development. These components include a 3-D rendering toolkit, live video acquisition, speech transmission, and the control of tracking and interaction devices. To facilitate the simultaneous design of applications and algorithms that take advantage of unique features of new collaborative virtual environments, we provide the developer with a flexible prototyping toolkit which emulates the functionality of the final system. The applicability of JAPE is demonstrated with several prototype applications and algorithms.