For weeks the general public had zero visibility into the oil spill and largely relied on BP’s original estimates based on surface oil analysis. 10 years ago this would have been all that what we knew and would have had to wait and see what the true damage and environmental impact would be, with clean-up being largely reactive.
This time is different because we have eyes right at the source, 5,000 feet below the ocean floor. This official live feed (below), being delivered ship-to-shore using VBrick video streaming technology, has been made available to the general public and to independent scientific entities. This video and others makes it possible for more accurate calculations of the spill’s intensity–from the initial estimates by BP of roughly 5,000 barrels a day, to what scientists now believe may be 25,000 barrels per day.
No one argues that this might be the worst oil related catastrophe the United States has ever faced, but access to real-time video from depths lethal to humans, has enabled decision makers to deploy the 2000 on-locations responders, 75 boats, and 45+ miles of containment booms in a manner that will have the most impact –they now know they are fighting a monster five time the size.
The public also has a better understanding of the magnitude of the spill and the Government can respond more proactively while the crisis is still happening. This is in part to this live video feed and other VBrick high-definition video feeds being made available from aircraft and sea-going vessels.
More on that next week.
For more information about Mission Critical Video and how the Gulf Oil Spill Live Feed works technically please check out the vbrick.com website
Good post, Garth. We’ve had this listed along with many public TV channels here: http://video.discovervideo.com/viewpeg
Can you please indicate which organization or firm is using the VBrick technology for the “Live Official Feed”?
Hi Mike -
We have several different customers in the Oil and Gas industry that use VBrick for underwater exploration. Not all of the feeds coming from the oil spill are using VBrick’s, but the primary feed that overlooks the plume and is on most of the time is encoded using a VBrick, but I don’t know which one of our customers is providing the feed.
Thanks Rich!