Speaking at the recent high performance computing workshop at Houston’s Rice University, engineering special projects director Tony Elam showed how gaming technology, as used by the military, is being applied in various roles in oil and gas. Elam contrasts today’s snazzy gaming technology with traditional classroom-based teaching, suggesting that youngsters now expect more attractive and involving learning experience. Enter the ‘serious game,’ or virtual learning environment.
Military examples of serious games include USC’s ‘BiLat’ training system (www.oilit.com/links/1105_1), a ‘social’ simulator for training soldiers in negotiating with local leaders. In oil and gas, VRContext’s SimuLynx provides rig skills training to drillers and roustabouts. Simprentis’ OilSim is a comprehensive training system for decision taking, risk analysis and economics across the E&P lifecycle. The UH ‘PetroChallenge’ offers students a similar environment to test their oil and gas business acumen.
Elam announced a new Houston Serious Games Research Consortium with backing from ExxonMobil, Hess, HP, IBM, Microsoft, SAIC and others. The consortium’s mission is to ‘explore, promote, share and develop the emerging field of serious games.’ More from www.oilit.com/links/1105_2.
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