Unity is a powerful gaming engine which is capable of creating more advanced visualisations than Flexcom’s standard Model View. The main advantages are as follows:
•Unity is capable of delivering photo-realistic graphics, whereas Flexcom’s visualisation is essentially an animation. The comparison is analogous to watching a CGI movie (Computer Generated Imagery) versus an animated/cartoon style film. Naturally, such high definition videos can serve as very useful promotional material for engineering companies.
•Unity videos are compatible with virtual reality, offering the viewer a fully immersive 3D viewing experience. Experiencing a subsea model in 3D space provides an excellent sense of scale and perspective which is simply not possible from a flat screen monitor. Feedback from engineering teams suggests that this can be particularly important for subsea layouts where a number of components are operating in close proximity – in this case the spatial awareness afforded by VR can enhance engineering insight.
In order to highlight these benefits, let’s compare and contrast a sample model viewed in Flexcom and in Unity. The model contains 5 flexible risers, which pass over a tethered mid-water arch in a lazy-S configuration, and is typical of the shallow water production systems deployed in North Sea field developments. You will notice that the Unity version offers much greater image sharpness, on the vessel and the mid-water arch, and the water surface definition looks incredibly realistic.
Flexible Riser System - Flexcom