Applications of AR & VR in Pharmaceutical Industry

Immersive technologies are beginning to become available for all healthcare areas starting from drug marketing and remote advisory services and finishing with psychological and neurological care. That is a genuinely versatile technology. 

Virtual and augmented reality in the pharmaceutical industry will allow companies to achieve a wide variety of goals, providing the possibility to reduce expenses, increase efficiency, and solve many typical tasks unconventionally. 

Let us take a closer look at the applications of Augmented Reality in the pharmacy.

Experiential Marketing

Thanks to VR/AR technology, companies can simulate particular scenarios and propose experiences that engage clients and form an emotional attachment to their products or services. For example, Bayer Augmented and virtual reality are helping pharmaceutical companies deliver high-quality, experiential content to their customers.

Just imagine that physicians can visualize the impact of treatment on human anatomy, patients gain the ability to see exactly how a drug works in their body, while staff can learn how a medication dispensing machine works. Augmented reality pharmaceutical advertising helps build trust in the brands that offer these products, resulting in increased sales.

Specialized Technician Training 

Some equipment used in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare accessories production is very expensive. That makes real case test scenarios of working with it difficult. Therefore, it is crucial for technicians to have an opportunity to experience pharmaceutical equipment and medical products in a virtual environment before dealing with them in real-life use cases. 

Using a digital copy of equipment in simulation, pharmaceutical companies can train technical staff in VR simulations, which are safer and much cheaper when it comes to a testing environment. 

Patient Education 

Doctors can use virtual reality in pharma to create interactive and engaging educational software for patients. It will allow them to learn more about their diseases and possible treatments in a more meaningful way. 

Interactive package inserts are one of the most interesting ways Augmented Reality is being used in the pharmaceutical industry. Interactive content describing how to use drugs and how to treat diseases is much more informative than a huge piece of paper printed in a small font. This is how Bayer has created fascinating AR packages for One Day drugs.

That is what the packaging looks like when you look at it through the mobile app camera: 

Preventive Care Marketing

Try to imagine your body under the conditions you would undergo from long-term drinking, smoking, eating junk food, or illegal drug use. At first glance, this scenario sounds like science fiction, but virtual reality truly allows a person to mentally process the transformations in their body in the same way they do a real-life experience. 

For this reason, VR and AR in pharmacy is a perfect solution for companies that produce treatments for the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles. Immersive technologies influence customers’ emotions and decisions more effectively than traditional commercial advertising or brochures.

Augmented and virtual reality in the pharmaceutical industry has great potential for preventive care, as MedTech companies can educate patients on the benefits of their proposed treatment strategy while demonstrating what health risk behaviors could lead to in the future.

Trusting and Informed Patients

With visual representations similar to real-life experiences, potential customers are more likely to trust pharmaceutical companies. Most marketing strategies are usually ad-driven, however, this method is not effective when it comes to promoting healthcare technologies, services, or drugs. In contrast to these traditional methods, VR/AR technology concentrates on creating visually captivating and informative content that has educational and engaging nature instead of proposing simple advertising. 

Patients can better understand their treatment with these innovations, so pharmaceutical corporations that employ and market VR/AR technology along with their products will undoubtedly have a competitive advantage.

Drug Sales and Marketing 

3D visualization technologies help salesmen representing pharmaceutical companies to demonstrate drug composition, production methods, clinical trial results, medical research outcomes, and drug effect mechanisms to anyone concerned. AR solutions show great potential as an efficient marketing tool used to attract potential customers’ attention and highlight product features and benefits. 

Employees of drug and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies can use dedicated apps for these purposes as part of trade shows, conferences, webinars, professional meetings, congresses, and other events organized for the medical community.

Summing Up

Nowadays, incorporating AR and VR into pharma sales, marketing and advertising seems an essential component of the technology-driven future we have dreamed of. The potential of immersive technologies is limitless. 

Boost your marketing efforts with augmented and virtual reality in pharmacy! And if you are looking for a reliable technology partner to realize your greatest ideas, contact us and let’s talk the details!

Andrew Linskyi COO, Managing Partner at SmartTek Solutions