First Interactive's iPort centre
First Interactive is currently working on gathering all its self-developed technology and expertise in one centre.
The iPort centre will be based on the Visioneering Life Cycle solution - a new work method developed to facilitate rig life cycle prolongation. Visioneering provides improved results through virtual engineering and ensures:
- Optimized rig performance
- Reduced non-productive time
- Truly tested and proven systems
The iPort centre will give customers everything they need to ensure success and safety for their projects in one place. There will be five main arenas: A dome-shaped training simulator; two Visioneering™ suites; a Mission Control room and an Online Rig Support room.
The official opening will take place during ONS (Offshore Northern Seas) conference in Stavanger, August 2010.
Xfactor+ Summer Campaign
Until 15 August 2010 First Interactive offers Xfactor+ at a reduced price - NOK 29.500 ex VAT. Recommended price is NOK 52.000 ex VAT.
Xfactor+ is the only program that can automatically generate buildings using SOSI data and place BIM models with existing buildings and terrain.
It is the only program that can drape facade structures automatically using Pictometry images.
Xfactor+ can import standard SOSI FKB 4.0 to automatically generate terrain and buildings.
Additional modules enable draping Pictometry images on facades, import of IFC/BIM files, and visualisation of high-voltage areas.
Xfactor+ is integrated with ArcGIS from ESRI and can export 3D models to ArcGIS.
For more information regarding Xfactor+, please contact Jarle Nerland.
First Interactive at OTC 2010
First Interactive will be attending the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) which will take place 3-6 May in Houston, Texas.
There will be demonstrations of our innovative simulator technology, and the visitors will be given a fantastic opportunity to try our technology hands-on.
Come visit First Interactive at booth 3917 - and experience something new!
Feature on First Interactive in Dagens Næringsliv
March 11, one of Norway's major business newspapers had a feature on First Interactive. The feature contained information about the company and the advantages of using simulator technology for rig testing and optimization, and for advanced training of rig personnel.
We consider this to be an acknowledgement of our technology and our Visioneering method for risk and cost reduction.
New National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design viewed with Xfactor+
Statsbygg on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs is planning a new shared building complex to house the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design on the site of the old West Railway Station, Vestbanen, in Oslo.
Phase 1 of the planning included an international competition for all at a general level of the building. All entries for the competition had to be delivered digitally as a BIM (Building Information Model) using the IFC format.
EPM Technology together with First Interactive has developed a solution for storing and viewing all entries for the competition. Statsbygg is now utilizing a new version of Xfactor+ to visualize these competition entries. The surrounding scene is built in Xfactor+ using a standard basemap from the City of Oslo and Pictometry images from Blom Geomatics. By using this technology all proposals for the new museum can be imported and placed correctly into a city model of downtown Oslo.
For this project, First Interactive has developed a new extension for Xfactor+ that can read BIM/IFC. This extension can visualize any IFC 2×2, 2×3 and 2×4 models inside a city model created in Xfactor+. The extension will be available with the next version of Xfactor+, that will be released late 2009.
Brand new building in Maskinveien 9
In the end of June First Interactive and Aker Solutions MH moved in to new offices at Maskinveien 9, Forus, which is Stavanger’s major industrial area. It is situated right next to the main road E39, it is close to Stavanger airport and once the new railway line is finished in 2010 the access will be even better.
The building consists of one big 1st floor that mainly contains workshop and warehouse areas, iPort center and technical rooms. From the 2nd to the 4th floor the building consists of 2 towers with office space and the towers are connected via the canteen area.
The building has modern interior, is technically advanced and scaled to handle the expected growth in technical equipment, especially our iPort senter with it’s extensive server park and screens. We have a workout center and several creative gaming rooms for employees in order to provide the necessary balanced mental and physical challenge to enhance work performance.
The iPort center, which will be built this autumn, will cover a 300 square metre area and will contain a simulator training center, pre-commisioning suites and other suites than can be used according to customer requirements, for example real time rig monitoring and visualisation projects.
Other tennants in the building are Geodata and GK Norge.
Drillmec 100th HH-rig anniversary
We are happy to announce that we have now delivered the second simulator to Drillmec. The delivery was advanced to reach the 100th HH-rig anniversary, held at Drillmec’s main office in Piacenza, Italy.
Even with this early delivery the software proved to be stable enough to run without problems during the whole exhibition. The development team can now focus on finalizing the software, putting in the last features and making the simulator ready for Drillmec to start training in October.
The new dome solution seems to be a perfect choice for Drilmec. Sitting in the drill chair, you can see the whole rig from the top of the mast, the well center in front and to the pipe handler at your right side, just like in a real cabin. There is no need to fly around to watch any part of the sequence.
As in OTC.09 the simulators caught a lot of attention and it was obvious that Drillmec was very proud to present it to their specially invited customers. The slogan they put on the simulators says it all: "Exceeding customer’s expectations".
Brazil Offshore Exhibition 2009
Aker Solutions and First Interactive received a lot of attention at the Brazil Offshore Exhibition & Conference in Macae June 16-19. Exhibition version of the Drilling Equipment Simulator (XfactorDES) was in the center of attention especially for the younger generation. We ran several demonstrations in the exhibition version of the simulator i.e. vertical and horizontal pipe handling, riser handling, connection, break and interactively in 3D the whole rig.
The rig chosen for demo was the West Eminence (Dual RamRig) where Aker Solutions have delivered engineering, complete drilling and mud equipment package and BOP/marine riser system. West Eminence will be operating in Brazilian waters. All drilling equipment operators have received operational training in the Drilling Equipment Simulator at the Aker Solutions training facility in Singapore.
We were also promoting the new Aker Solutions training facility in Macae, Brasil where training and other services will be offered.
Next year Brazil Offshore Exhibition will be held in Rio de Janeiro. Vê-lo no Rio próximo ano.
Aker Solutions opens new training facility in Houston
Aker Solutions recently opened training facility in Katy, Texas, houses a 3D simulator that provides ultra-realistic environments for students to learn about specific pieces of drilling equipment.
The facility has two classrooms and one simulator room that houses a rig-specific simulator. This means students can train in realistic training environments that are set up to look exactly like the rig where the student will be working , down to specific pieces of equipment.
Successfully exhibited at OTC.09
Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) celebrates 40th anniversary this year. First Interactive visited Houston for the second time and were presented both at Aker Solutions and Drillmec exhibition areas.
We were proud to present Aker Solutions Intelligent Operator Chair (IOC) at the OTC Exhibition for the first time. The IOC was connected to a seamless 9 unit 42inch HD video wall solution together enabling operation of 3 different simulators – West E, Seadrill 8 and XfactorMOS. "The XfactorMOS (Marine Operation Simulator) is a new software product which visualizes and simulates complex subsurface marine operations. It is currently being developed for Aker Solutions Subsea."
We were very impressed by the Trainer team from Aker Solutions in Houston. Their skills to communicate and demonstrate our technology and rig specific training concept was outstanding. We are very grateful for their effort during the OTC exhibition.
Drillmec stand were built around their new land rig simulator powered by First Interactive. The Drillmec simulator is the first simulator delivery with a dome screen and projector solution. This is an exciting display solution developed in close relation with 3D Perception.
Drillmec customers and competitors were impressed with what Drillmec obtained in the form of training and pipe handling by the simulator. They had a strong focus on demonstrating their land rig concept for key customers by utilizing the simulator technology.
We were pleased with many visitors at both Aker Solutions and Drillmec stands. OTC 2010 takes place 3-6 May at Reliant Conference & Exhibition Center at Reliant Park, Houston.
Xfactor+ 1.3 released
First Interactive is proud to announce the release of Xfactor+ version 1.3. It can be downloaded from our website. The new release has several new features, and in addition we have fixed many other bugs.
New features in Xfactor+ 1.3:
- Improved texture draping tool
- Improved lines and points editor
- Pictometry
- DTM cache
- Support for hasp.net
- Export to ESRI multipatch
- SOSI attributes
- Extended coordinate info
- Updated English help file
Download Xfactor+ 1.3 from product page.
Exhibition GeoForum 2009 in Oslo
First Interactive exhibited at GeoForum 2009 in Oslo March 25-27. GeoForum is event for people working with GIS and gathers people from municipalities, charting authorities, defense, aviation and many others. Conference was attended by approximately 500 people, in-between Heidi Sørensen from Ministry of the Environment in opening, at Radisson SAS hotel.
We were proud to show the next release of the Xfactor+ software with features like BIM import, auto texturing from Pictometry, module for power line visualization, real-time tracking and others. We are pleased with the feedback.
Offshore Technology Conference 2009 in Houston
First Interactive will be represent at the OTC.09 exhibition in Houston at the Aker Solutions Pavilion 4-7 May. There will be demonstration of our drilling simulator and other products from our portfolio. This will be a highly interactive demonstration where visitors will be invited to operate drilling equipment in the simulator. We look forward to see you there - booth 5641.
Valhall IP Visioneering project phase I completed
The goal for the Valhall IP Visioneering project is to optimize the drilling capabilities by Visioneering. First phase was to build a replica of Valhall IP in a simulator, connect a copy of the real control system and run an iterative process with programming, testing and verification.
This part of project is now completed and the second phase can start. Next phase will be an iterative process where drillers, equipment and supplier’s experts are operating the virtual platform and identifying where improvements can be achieved. A major step for improvement has been the SZMS (Smart Zone Management System) and is now visible in the simulator. It gives a better understanding of where improvements can be made and simulator functionality. The project will continue until July in 2009.
First Interactive hires Trond Danielsen in strategic position
To further strengthen the team, First Interactive has employed Trond Danielsen in the position of Vice President Operations. Trond Danielsen has 30 years of experience within the offshore industry ranging from hands on drilling and drilling management, through technology development, project management and implementation to onshore management.
Trond Danielsen comes from the position of Drilling Supervisor with Odfjell Drilling/Statoil Hydro. He will be responsible for the implementation of First Interactive's Visioneering and drilling rig life-cycle concepts.
First Interactive has grown from 11 employees in 2006 to 83 employees presently. The company has, together with Aker Solutions, developed ground breaking technology and competence to reduce risk and increase the performance of upgrading and operating offshore drilling rigs. In recognition of the innovative solutions provided by First Interactive, Aker Solutions took a majority ownership stake in the company in 2008.
Aker MH buys a major post in First Interactive AS
The fact that Aker MH AS now invest in a major share of First Interactive is an acknowledgment of our technology development and a breakthrough in the simulation and visualization market. It has been First Interactive’s goal to get a strategic large industrial enterprise to invest in the company. With Aker MH AS in our team we are in a position to extend our perspective and offer our market leading solutions in a global market.
First Interactive has together with Aker MH AS established a new industry standard for simulator training with the next generation of drilling simulators, Xfactor DES (Drilling Equipment Simulator), and believe that this technology will significantly contribute to the value within training, product development, commissioning, mission control, maintenance monitoring etc.
First interactive has an exciting wide-range product portfolio, where among others Xfactor+ (3D scenario builder) is being established in the Geospatial Information market.
This is a very exciting market segment and will be one of our main focus areas in the future!