Investigating the application of virtual environment technology for use in the petroleum exploration industry

Although the concepts of virtual environments or virtual reality have been researched for many years, the industrial application of these concepts is a relatively recent event in the evolution of the human-computer interface. This paper outlines an investigation by a commercial research organization (BHP Research) into the applications of this technology. The major domain under investigation was that of petroleum exploration. The focus of the research was two-fold, namely, the use of virtual environments to enable multi-sensory interpretation of data and the ability of virtual environments to enhance collaboration amongst work teams. Appraisal was conducted by trialing the applications amongst a wide user base. While it is not possible to divulge in full the recommendations that resulted from this work, a number of observations are made about the use of this technology for petroleum exploration. Furthermore, various general implications for the use of this technology are discussed.