“Such an application simply doesn’t exist in the pipeline industry,” notes Tony Khoo, manager of Enbridge’s advanced analytics team. “If we are able to fully develop this solution, we would consider offering this to the pipeline industry in the interest of improving overall safety.”

Says Enbridge’s RDI technology manager Chris O’Neill: “Technologies such as augmented reality have the potential to literally change the way we look at our system, and help us begin to appreciate the wider innovative potential when we treat data as an organizational asset.”

Wearing Microsoft’s HoloLens glasses, users would be able to rotate, zoom and expand on the virtual image of the pipeline. Areas of concern along the pipelines are then depicted via heat map, with users able to view the various measurements, such as geological forces, and see changes as they occur over time.