Image via CrunchBase
Anybody out there every play pong? I bet those guys never dreamed that a video game would develop into what we see today. Even when Nintendo first released Super Mario Brothers, who would have thought that gaming technology would impact so many industries? In conversations I’ve had with several people in the energy industry over the last few months, gaming technology has come up. This isn’t the have-you-played-the-new-Black-Ops kind of discussion either. (Although, that comes up from time to time too.) In the oil & gas space it has been about integrated operations, and that has inevitably led in to the topic of how many aerospace companies are crossing over into O&G these days. It also put me in mind of a webcast from a few months ago that is still available to view. Really fascinating stuff!
Use of Gaming Technology and 3D Humans to Manage Worker Exposure to Radiation at Nuclear Plants
Utility workers at nuclear facilities are exposed to radiation that must be kept below certain levels to be considered safe. ALARA, an acronym for “As Low As Reasonable Achievable,” is a principle set forth by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that gives employers an absolute duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work in radioactive environments.
During this session, Siemens PLM Software and Microsoft will examine the unique challenges utilities face when training for and planning ALARA human work processes. A special guest speaker from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will talk about the ground breaking work they did to create an algorithm to estimate radiological dosage in nuclear plants. Siemens PLM Software and Microsoft will discuss commercial off the shelf software available today to help utilities improve employee health and safety programs by utilizing advanced IT tools for ALARA planning, while also improving work efficiency in the plant. Demonstrations will include Siemens PLM Software’s work planning application Tecnomatix with “Jack and Jill”, the virtual humans and the Kinect for Windows system.
You may have noticed that I get a kick out of the new technology that shows up…everywhere. If you know of something new that you want to tell me about, drop a comment! Commenting not your thing? No biggie, email me, ilovegeekology101@gmail.com.
‘Til next time,
Jessica
EnergyGirl101 