“We are the metaverse of the oilfields,” says Øystein Stray, one of the original founders of Visco, which started making visualization solutions on the ecosystem level for the Norwegian offshore industry in 2000. “We are taking away the silos and bringing the users into a uniform virtual world,” he says.

Visco’s solution, VCOG, is a digital twin ecosystem that acts as its own level between other data systems. The driving force behind VCOG is their motto “change the way people work,” with the changes coming through visualization of data and optimizing work processes. The solution is for owner-operators aiming to increase efficiency and safety in industries with complex operations. “Telling complex stories with simple clarity is what we do,” says Stray.

It is important that customers working with mission-critical operations can trust that the solution delivers what is expected. When Visco learned of DNV’s industry-first recommended practice (RP) on quality assurance of digital twins in the oil and gas industry, they realized that it would be beneficial for improving and quality assuring their solution.

First digital twin RP for oil and gas

In 2020, DNV and TechnipFMC joined in publishing the oil and gas industry’s first ever RP on how to build and quality assure digital twins, setting a new benchmark. DNV-RP-A204: ‘Assurance of digital twins’ sets guides on how to assess whether a digital twin will deliver to expectations, establish confidence in the data and the computational models and evaluate an organization’s readiness to work with digital twins.

VCOG presents entire ecosystems, such as oil fields, smart cities, airports or factories, into one comprehensive visual environment. It integrates 3D models, point clouds, photos, diagrams and video, bringing users into an on-location experience that is an integrated 3D virtual world. You can have a birds’ eye view of the assets or you can look up close at details while relating instantly to information from underlying data sources. This means that people can instantly understand data that has previously been out of reach.

User first approach

“What sets VCOG apart is our "user first" approach,” says Stray. “This makes it possible to work in new ways. The puzzle that we put together – and we do it very fast – would be left in the document control systems as just small pieces of the big picture, and they would stay there for the next 20 years.”

The multi-experience “all-in-one” visualization environment also provides apps for specific user groups.

By bringing in DNV, Visco has had their processes and methodologies thoroughly reviewed by DNV’s data technology and digital twin experts. The assessment concludes that Visco has a robust system that provides a single visual environment of the entire asset allowing users to work safer and smarter. Further, their operations has a high level of organisational maturity as defined in DNV-RP-A204. Now, as a small company, they can refer to DNV’s quality assurance and statement of capabilities to build credibility and help customers understand and trust their offerings.

Figure: VCOG represents a new workspace where people can collaborate, plan, execute and monitor mission critical asset operations in a lifelike visualization environment fused with data from digital twins and other relevant data sources. (Image from Visco)

Visco

Visco, based in Norway, has executed more than 5000 visualization projects and has evolved into a Total Visualization Management company for asset-heavy industries and complex operations. Formed in 1993, Visco now has approximately 100 employees located in Stavanger, Bergen, Haugesund, Kongsberg, Oslo, Houston, Nurnberg, Greece, Vietnam, Poland and Ukraine. Their tagline is ‘Creating visuals. Making sense’.

Profile

• Customer name: Visco
• Website: visco.no
• Market: Visualization management
• Service: Digital twin quality assurance
  
  

This is why we chose DNV:

• DNV was first to publish recommended practice for digital twins in oil and gas industry
• Partnership with DNV will support us in development of our solutions
• DNV is trusted in the industry and their quality assurance is a differentiator
  
  

This is what we gained:

• Assurance from DNV proves to the market that our solutions are trusted
• Partnership with DNV brings in new data management expertise
• Quality assurance process provides new input and ideas for future development