Many scenarios that might be improved by an augmented reality heads-up display shouldn't require an overly arduous selection process; most gizmos will do if you're checking a weather app while jogging. The same can't be said for picking out a device to help oil rig workers work safely and efficiently in the middle of the Permian Basin. Shell's VR incubator lead Michael Kaldenbach talks with Alan about the things his team had to consider when selecting the right device for the job.

Alan:

Today's guest -- Michael

Kaldenbach – is an augmented, mixed, and virtual reality incubation

lead at Shell, the global oil company. He is a driven, goal-oriented,

resourceful, and creative person, who really understands the

usefulness of this technology, and bringing how to bring it to the

market. He's chosen the family motto of Arctic explorer Sir Ernest

Shackleton, as it accurately reflects how he approaches any challenge

or goal: “victory through perseverance,” or “Fortitudine

Vincimus.” He strives

to apply entrepreneurial mindsets and thinking up out-of-the-box

solutions and approaches when working in this technology. If you want

to learn more about his work, you can visit Shell.com.

I

want to welcome to the show, Michael Kaldenbach. Welcome to the show,

Michael.

Michael:

Hi, Alan. Thank you very

much for having me on.

Alan:

It's my absolute

pleasure. I'm really excited. I want to dig right in here, because I

know you guys at Shell have been doing a ton of work in everything

from kind of marketing and trade shows, right through to oil wells

previsualization. So let's talk about some of the ways that you and

your team are using virtual/augmented reality right now.

Michael:

So I think One of the

better case studies we have is around augmented reality remote

assistance, and I'm sure you've seen examples in the wider industry

for that one. But for us at Shell, that means that we utilize a

head-mounted display -- in this case specifically, the Realwear --

and it is used for our operators; for quick resolution, and to get

remote expertise to be brought in.

I

think it always helps if I provide a little story to set the scene;

think of an offshore oil platform out there in the ocean. Typically,

the most senior person is the control room operator, and there are

more junior operators that are assisting the running and maintaining

of these kind of assets. If in the control room, they see a deviation

on one of the many dashboards they have, they send out a more junior

operator to investigate -- normally with a radio phone or walkie

talkie -- and then they guide them through, they get back to “what

is the situation; what's the sound the machine is making?” But

where we really revolutionize that process is with a head-mounted

display. It is as if the experienced operator has immediate eyes on

the situation. So think about [it] -- you see (or I see) what the

junior operator is seeing, and thereby, I can use my years of

expertise to resolve the issue, and get back to safe operations.

In a

case where my expertise set is also not sufficient, we can quickly be

joined by a remote expert who can be onshore -- can be anywhere in

the world -- to join that same virtual room, so that a three-way

conversation happens. Not only that: instead of having those

conversations like, “I recognize the problem; you need to switch

off the third button from the left, it's kind of greenish on the left

side, bottom side of the machine,” instead, we use something called

“telestration,” and that's the benefit of having a head-mounted

display, whereby I -- as the remote expert -- can draw on my screen

and the same visual is replicated to the junior operator, so in his

line of sight, he gets an annotation -- a circle or an arrow,

whatever is helpful; it could also be a video -- to resolve the

situation. Thereby, we qui