PTC connects to global customers with disguise

Summary

Over half of PTC’s customer-base was based in APAC and EMEA regions, however 91% of the visits they had to its Boston-based Corporate Experience Center were North American customers. This presented a huge missed opportunity to connect with clients, build relationships and accelerate sales cycles globally.

Being at the forefront of computer technology, PTC wanted an innovative way to do something different. The solution was a one-of-a-kind extended reality (xR) wall that transported customers anywhere from a factory floor in Germany to an office space in Shanghai. With an LED wall at its centre, the wall and a custom-built mobile robot pedestal system allowed for easy face-to-face interaction. The content on the wall was built by Meptik with disguise RenderStream™ at the heart of it all.

The challenge

Although PTC was, in some ways, inspired by The Mandalorian and the virtual production technology used in film, PTC wanted to create a bi-directional solution where the intended audience could not only see virtual content, but interact with it as well. That meant that the stage couldn’t just go in one direction, out towards the audience. Instead, it needed to allow for a conversation between two remote parties in the immersive virtual environment. With this, they were able to get their message across better and with more interactivity than ever before.

“A marketing campaign can take months to hit the customer. With our xR wall, they can hear from our CEO in real-time. There is no other xR stage that we've heard of that is bi-directional. Because its real-time, there is no room for error, making this a project that truly pushed the boundaries on what is possible,” says PTC’s Corporate Experience Director Tom Sullivan.

PTC also needed to custom-design and build a mobile robotic pedestal to act as the eyes and ears of virtual participants, with dual monitors mounted above and below the camera.

“We could change the direction of our discussion and the resulting experience based on real-time customer feedback and needs, creating trust and credibility in our brand. With the xR wall, we did not want to create a perfectly packaged marketing campaign. Rather, we wanted to have a conversation,” says Sullivan.

With the real-time nature of the xR wall, PTC and its collaborators needed technology and partners they could rely on. That’s when disguise came in. With disguise's xR solution, coupled with content from Meptik, the xR wall was made a reality.

The solution

Sullivan and his team designed a space that would fit within the company’s Boston headquarters.

The virtual art department at Meptik created virtual replicas of PTC customers’ work environments, enabling PTC to showcase their technologies in a highly personalized approach, while transforming PTC’s 2D corporate overview presentation into an interactive, 3-dimensional demonstration.

PTC can utilise the xR wall in-person or in virtual mode. It’s also largely preset-driven, allowing for on-the-fly changes to the virtual environment during free-flowing conversations that don’t require a script.

Success

Since its implementation, PTC has been able to connect with individuals or groups anywhere in the world on a more conversational and immersive basis, bringing decision makers together and growing their business.

Thanks to the xR wall, PTC can do tailored product demos for individual prospects. For example, they can put the logo of a prospective customer up on the wall, creating a custom, tailormade and unforgettable experience for the customer. The facility has helped PTC show how its digital technology can help transform the physical world. Thanks to 3D photogrammetry, the team can even scan a customer’s actual location to show how PTC software can change their space during a product demo. Customers are then able to see the results of their custom virtual world from any angle. 

Additionally, the xR wall can deliver more sophisticated events that can reach many customers at once for conferences and virtual events. For an automotive conference in Europe, PTC invited fifteen customers to a call hosted by the xR wall in the CXC. They have also hosted customers from Japan, China, and the US simultaneously. During the one hour session, they connected people in Japan, China and America. The English speakers could even be translated to Chinese and Japanese, all in real-time with multiple channels.

Through the xR wall’s immersive experience, the team was able to solidify connections with customers around the world, leading to shorter sales cycles and overall commercial success.