Maersk Drilling adopts Microsoft HoloLens

Danish rig operator Maersk Drilling is implementing Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality solution to improve efficiency, security and ultimately go paperless. 

According to a Microsoft blog post, Maersk Drilling will use HoloLens to transform data points on a rig to “a virtual scenario in which an engineer receives instructions from his Microsoft HoloLens glass and marks the task as solved with the blink of an eye.”

“With the intelligent use of technology, we can increase efficiency and security on our rigs, like when the HoloLens glasses reminds the employee to remember to check all inspection points,” Marika Reis from Maersk Drilling told Microsoft. “In addition, the single tasks become less time-consuming, as we can remove all the paperwork and mark a point with the blink of eye, literally. When we stand on open sea and must perform the same inspections over and over, the glasses can help us maintain focus, predict risks and react immediately. And this is merely one application of a technology with a much wider potential.”

“We believe that Mixed Reality has the potential to be an essential component in creating a completely paper-free work environment with an entirely problem-free cooperation between all parts of the chain,” Reis added. 

The initiative uses the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and combined with Mixed Reality “will become a state-of-the-art example in Denmark of how the real and virtual world is mixed in the future workplace.”

“We are very excited that Maersk Drilling chooses to apply the latest cloud technology, and we consider this partnership a milestone in the Danish market,” said Frederik Braun, director of Enterprise at Microsoft Denmark. “This is a good example of how technology can strengthen the human ability to make decisions based on data. The new technology allows Maersk Drilling to apply data in real time to forecast and fix potential scenarios, and this will be an essential competence for the industrial businesses of the future.”