Swiss coffee machine manufacturer Schaerer has introduced a new three-dimensional virtual showroom that is browser based, allowing customers to view all of the company’s machines and optional accessories online.
Customers can access text information on the machines and find detailed 3D models of the device. These can be freely placed in real rooms using an augmented reality (AR) application, and shows the machines in different configurations with optional accessories to demonstrate its different applications.
To do so, the software accesses the camera of the smartphone or tablet and realistically integrates the selected machine into the recorded image. This gives interested users the opportunity to test a potential purchase directly in their own space.
Devices can also be examined more closely if desired, with technical specifications and specific application options offered.
Created in collaboration with Wurzel Digital, the German media agency successfully transformed Schaerer’s expert input on its machines to a visually appealing look.
“The final product impresses with the modern, feel-good ambience typical of Schaerer and invites guests to explore the space,” says Schaerer.
While the idea of making trade show booths and exhibition space is not a new one, Sebastian Walk, Digital Marketing Manager at Schaerer, says the demand for this technology has certainly increased due to COVID-19.
“In the last year and a half, trade shows all over world have either been cancelled or held digitally. Although the situation is slowly returning to normal, many manufacturers and event organisers are still looking for alternatives,” says Walk.
The showroom displays Schaerer’s teams unique coffee expertise, which plays a key role in making the concept appealing and innovative.
All visitors have the chance to experience and discover this comprehensive machine technology and information, with the presentation space able to be explored with complete freedom, using either a mouse and keyboard or by touch control.
This includes several stations featuring different areas of Schaerer’s coffee expertise, with visitors receiving further information about the Schaerer Coffee Competence Centre. Interesting facts about the company itself, its service structures, and other facets of Schaerer are also made available at certain points in the room.
“The showroom has many benefits. We now have a central hub for our multimedia content, regardless of time and place,” says Walk. “On the one hand, this is extremely practical for our customers and partners all over the world, and on the other, it increases sustainability”.
The main objective of Schaerer and Wurzel Digital when designing the showroom was to used digital tools to make the sensory aspect of coffee enjoyment tangible.
“We are convinced that we can break new ground with the digital coffee experience in the Virtual Showroom,” says Matthias Lübke, Marketing Manager and Head of the Coffee Competence Centre at Schaerer.
“Of course, this will never completely replace interpersonal exchanges — but we will see digital forms of communication increasingly merging with the analogue world.”
To visit Schaerer’s virtual showroom, click here.
