Building VR for Pharma Manufacturing
July 27, 2020
The problem: A pharmaceutical company needed to show their production facility to potential customers at trade shows. Customers couldn't visit actual clean rooms due to contamination risks.
Existing virtual tours were flat 360° photos. No depth. No scale. Limited trust-building.
What We Built
At XRBASE Amsterdam, we created a fully immersive, multiplayer VR experience of their spray drying facility. Customers at trade shows could put on a headset and walk through the clean room, examine equipment, understand the production process.
The differentiator: Sales representatives could join remotely using deterministic networking. A customer in Milan and a sales expert in another country could be in the same virtual space, having real conversations while examining equipment together.
Result: Memorable experience that positioned them as innovative, built trust through transparency, and created new ways for distributed teams to engage with customers.
Product Vision
Product Vision Workshop defined four areas:
Target audience: Pharma and biotech representatives at industry conferences. Startup executives (new entrants) and corporate teams (scientists + procurement). Limited time. Focused on validating equipment standards.
Customer requirements:
- Trust through facility transparency
- Validated quality standards and clean conditions
- Technical innovation demonstration
- Expert access beyond sales representatives
Core features:
- Product journey through spray drying process
- Free movement in virtual environment
- Equipment interaction for technical details
- Photorealistic clean room representation
- Multi-user sessions with remote experts
- Real-time voice communication
Business objectives:
- Customer relationship development
- Competitive differentiation
- Innovation positioning
This created team alignment on audience and purpose.
Design Decisions
Photorealism over stylization. Trust required showing the actual facility. We shot 360° photos and video on-site.
Education over entertainment. Users needed production process understanding, equipment capabilities, and quality standards. Interactions revealed technical details.
Multiplayer architecture. Deterministic networking enabled remote expert participation. Customer at trade show and expert at headquarters could tour together with real-time conversation.
Quality framework:
- Innovation - Advanced spray drying technology
- Expertise - Expert access for process explanation
- Excellence - Safety and quality control standards
Each VR touchpoint reinforced one framework element.
Production Approach
Agile sprints: 12 weeks, 4 sprints
- Sprint 1: Basic environment and assets
- Sprint 2: Detail work, capture 360° content on-site
- Sprint 3: Interactivity and user testing
- Sprint 4: Final polish and intensive testing
On-site filming: One day capturing ultra high-res 360° content with DSLR rig. Around 60 minutes per room, 5 positions per room, multiple exposures per position for HDR and stitching. Equipment: DSLR rig, tablet, power banks.
Challenges:
- Clean room contamination control (minimal approved equipment only)
- Reflective metal surfaces creating stitching problems
- Lighting balance (bright overhead + dark corners + metal reflections)
- Limited time per room (60 minutes in protective gear)
- Deterministic networking for multiplayer synchronization
Technical Lessons
Customer needs drive technical decisions. VR was the medium. Trust-building was the goal. This shaped every decision.
Photorealism constrains workflow. Clean rooms can't be art-directed. Limited facility time eliminates second attempts. Lighting and shot planning must be precise.
Product vision prevents scope creep. Clear target audience and business goals enabled feature prioritization. Features that didn't serve core experience were rejected.
Architecture supports growth without delay. Built for future expansion but shipped focused first version. Architecture scaled without blocking launch.
VR builds trust. Trade show visitors remembered the experience. Created expert conversation opportunities. Immersion built confidence beyond brochure capability.
Multiplayer enables immediate expertise. Remote expert participation provided technical answers in context during sessions. Changed sales conversation timing and quality.
The Details
The VR experience launched at a major pharmaceutical trade show in Milan. It became a differentiator in how the company engaged with potential customers.
For XRBASE, this project demonstrated that immersive tech works for B2B industrial applications, not just consumer entertainment.
I worked on this as Technical Director and Producer at XRBASE Amsterdam. End-to-end technical planning and execution of immersive experiences.