When it comes to product presentation, a new era has begun. If you want to present your products effectively and entertainingly, Virtual Reality is a must. No matter if it’s clothes, cars, bricks or construction machines. Or cement mills, for example. Pfeiffer builds the largest cement mill in the world. At the same time, the company is a leader when it comes to staging its products with the new VR technology. With VR glasses you leave the real world. In reality, you dive even deeper into the products. Show effects included. The innovative startup ZReality also makes access to the “virtual showroom” possible.
A spiral staircase leads up high. The staircase has no railing. Nothing for scaredy-cats. The experience is impressive. The view is gigantic. The visitors are enthusiastic, but highly concentrated. After all, they don’t want to miss it and fall into the depths. They feel their way up step by step … No, this scene does not come from a theme park. It takes place in Kaiserslautern in the Palatinate. At Gebr. Pfeiffer SE, one of the world’s largest suppliers of vertical mills, a VR presentation of a 20-metre-high cement mill is currently underway. Equipped with virtual reality glasses, a group of people – with and without fear of heights – are immersed in a virtual world to explore the largest cement mill in the world. For a few minutes, the participants forget that they are actually standing firmly on the ground and that there, where they are walking, there is nothing at all.
Virtual Wow Effect
“That was awesome,” says one
of the visitors when he takes off his glasses again. Eric Deubl, Head of
Order Execution Department, has often heard this reaction. This was
just one of the various applications that Pfeiffer has recently used
with its virtual showroom to make its products come alive. “This little
adrenaline rush is funny,” he says, “but it shouldn’t distract from the
countless other features VR offers to get deeper into the products,”
says Deubl. In another application, visitors can control the individual
processes on a miniature model of the grinding plant themselves with a
virtual control panel in their hands. A virtual reception room tells the
story of the company, which has been based in Kaiserslautern since
1864. In 1925, the world’s largest cement mill was built in the
family-run business. Pfeiffer has been a pioneer in modern processing
technology for 150 years. To this day, the world’s largest cement mill
comes from Kaiserslautern.
Charging products emotionally
“A cement grinding
plant is admittedly not very emotional per se. However, VR can turn it
into an experience, attract attention and be remembered”, says Deubl, “a
product flyer no longer rips anyone out of their seat. Customers also
want to experience something and need inspiration. Here the customer can
explore his already planned plant already before the assembly live
experience. At the same time, the application provides interesting
information and deep insights into the product. Product presentation at
it’s best, so to speak”. Pfeiffer not only sells mills, but entire
grinding plants for the production of cement, for example, all over the
world.
In addition to the innovative mills (MPS / MVR series),
Pfeiffer Bros. offers a broad portfolio of machines for grinding,
classifying, drying, extinguishing and calcining. Particularly in the
global market, visualizing and experiencing products is becoming
increasingly important. “Products can be emotionally charged with such
VR applications,” says Adrian Dietrich of ZReality, a company with
leading VR specialists that developed the application. “Especially for
customer retention this is a helpful tool.
Virtual showroom is a new universe
“Of course
it’s not just about show effects, the VR theme also gives us great
opportunities to get X-ray views of the product that we wouldn’t have if
we were directly at the real facility. It’s also simply more fun to get
closer to a product in this way. Customers love that.” Another
advantage is that everything is done from anywhere. Especially for
products that are difficult to transport or visualize, a completely new
(experience) space is created here. With VR technology, it no longer
matters where you are on the globe. Such a presentation with VR can
literally be pulled out of your pocket. All you need is VR glasses or a
tablet or smartphone.
A virtual showroom is boundless. Neither the
size of products, nor the type play a role. Everything is possible here.
Exciting insights, information