Microsoft and Halliburton announced plans to enter into a strategic alliance for exploration and production (E&P) science, software and services.

Researchers and engineers from both companies will leverage and optimize Microsoft technologies in machine learning, augmented reality (AR), user interactions and Industrial Internet of Things, said the companies in a statement. Halliburton will also be using Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure.

Areas of collaboration are expected to include deep learning, modeling and simulation, and domain-specific visualization for mixed reality, as well as applications and digitalization of E&P assets.

Halliburton will be applying voice and image recognition, video processing and AR/Virtual Reality to create a digital representation of a physical asset using Microsoft’s HoloLens and Surface devices. Additionally, the companies will utilize digital representation for oil wells and pumps at the IoT edge.

Microsoft Azure will also become Halliburton’s preferred public cloud provider for iEnergy, the oil and gas industry’s first global E&P cloud linking the oilfield to the office.

As a first step in the alliance, Halliburton has made DecisionSpace 365 available on Azure.

[Image courtesy: Halliburton]