Motivation

A medical technology company operating across Europe is looking for new concepts for customer interaction. Cost and sustainability considerations require alternatives to international face-to-face meetings. From an ergonomic perspective, this practice has been shown to cause mental and physical stress factors. Experience to date shows that approaches based on AR and XR technologies have the potential to meet the demands of complex customer interactions, especially when dealing with 3D data.

Objectives and approach

The ERTRAG project is developing high-quality spatial XR interaction options with the aim of enabling improved interaction and communication between stakeholders through product evaluation that closely resembles the experience of being physically present. In a participatory approach, a "remote mixed reality showroom" with digital twins of the products will first be created, which can be tested in everyday life using standard mobile devices. A "hands-on tangible tracking" prototype then seamlessly links a digital model to the real object, making it practically "tangible." The model can be interactively edited by both interaction partners to represent change requests and partially compensate for the lack of haptic experience.

Innovations and perspectives

These expanded forms of communication allow the increasing proximity and interaction to be tested in comparison to face-to-face sales conversations. Success factors and recommendations for action can be derived from this for work design, organization, technology, and didactics. The participatory approach promises direct benefits for employees on both the supplier and customer sides.

Project profile (german)