Siemens Healthineers AR Marketing – HeartCenter for Cardiovascular Solutions

How large machines can be presented at trade fairs thanks to augmented reality

Info

Client: Siemens Healthineers
Event: ESC Congress
Location: Paris
Timeframe: 2019

Spectrum:
  • Sustainable 3D data usage
Competence:
  • Augmented Reality

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The Project

Siemens Healthineers offers a wide range of solutions for the diagnosis, imaging and therapy of heart disease. These are grouped together within the “Cardiovascular Solutions” product line. In view of the high complexity of the various devices, the mld digits team was faced with a challenge in the context of the “ESC 2019”: the entire product line was to be demonstrated to a broad specialist audience at the world’s most important congress in cardiology.

But how do you manage to present this multitude of devices, which in practice also extend over several rooms (for example, in a hospital), in a limited exhibition space without having to transport the large and sensitive apparatuses there – with immense effort and high logistics costs?

The answer: with augmented reality.

Together with Siemens Healthineers, mld digits developed a real-time AR application with which the trade visitors to the congress could virtually examine each device in a “real” room. With the AR solution, the devices can be viewed from any angle, their use in practice can be understood and all important core information can be clearly and live faded in.

So instead of setting up a large “demonstration heart centre” with several rooms, Siemens only had to bring a model of an exemplary building to the trade fair. The AR application automatically placed all the devices virtually in the various rooms. Visitors can display each product or device with their tablet and call up further information in images, text and video. Everything in real time – realistic, virtually prepared and based on the construction data of the “real” products. 

The Challenge

The biggest challenge the developers faced was the multitude of products and the associated virtual environments in which the devices were to be made comprehensible.

For example, the ACUSON SC2000 PRIME ultrasound system enables very precise cardiac ultrasound imaging, while the ARTIS icono floor can even be used to perform complicated surgical procedures. For each “Cardiovascular Solution”, an individual representation had to be found for the augmentation that would fit the presentation as a whole, correspond to the CI and the marketing guidelines, and finally also fit the 3D printed model and the AR model recognition. For this, it was not only necessary to evaluate and select the CAD data, but also to implement the data preparation of each machine in such a way that its use for real-time visualisation, AR model tracking and model building is possible.

The Solution

As far as structure, content and presentation are concerned, the developers paid special attention to the marketing strategy from the very beginning: The preparation of the different models, CAD data, software, content and much more was designed in such a way that visitors can “experience” the individual devices as well as their features from every conceivable angle, at every zoom level in central medical application scenarios using AR. Thus, a digital, innovative basis was created that will enable further scenarios and use cases in the future. Be it VR representations or patient interactions with the products and solutions of Siemens Healthineers.

Even without the real devices on site, visitors to the ESC Congress were able to augment the heart centre via tablet – this means that, for example, the ultrasound device, the ACUSON SC2000 PRIME, comes to “life” and one can understand different applications or modes in real time. In the information mode, the marketing materials of the individual products are also available, as well as much other digitised or animated “content” that explains the essential features & functions to visitors. 

In particular, the possibility of augmented animations makes it possible to show things that can otherwise hardly or not at all be presented: The cardiovascular, surgical interventions of the ARTIS icono floor would hardly be able to be demonstrated on real people – in the course of an AR simulation, this presentation would not be a problem..

What’s so special about it?

  • Compact and comprehensive digital solution for sales
  • Integration of seven products in one real-time application
  • Marketing-quality visualisation
  • Huge space and transport savings for all seven products
  • Possible applications even on small to medium stands with high ROI
  • Large 3D models with products in miniature
  • Numerous environmental details for accurate augmentation
  • Combining classic marketing elements with modern real-time communication capabilities
  • Extensions and modular use possible
  • Flexible use of current AR tracking technologies – e.g. model tracking on image markers or GroundPlane detection

Outlook

As the focus in the run-up to the congress was on the presentation of selected features and functions, the coming months will be about presenting further devices and visualisations, making the application and augmentation even more flexible and working out the possibilities of a more holistic, digital presentation. By integrating further application scenarios, the individual products can be even better understood or marketed in all their facets. Exhibitors and visitors alike will benefit from this.