I’ve spent a lot of time explaining how pharma can catch up with what other industries are doing in digital. We’ve focused on some basic ideas and some more complex strategies that are all designed to get pharma to where other industries have been for years in digital and e-marketing. So, now it’s time for me to show you how pharma can leap ahead. We’re beyond iPhone apps (which we’ve already covered) and other now mainstream technology. We’re onto something that just a couple of  industries have only dabbled in. I’m going to demonstrate this today not so that pharma can simply try something new, but because I think it has a genuine purpose in healthcare that’s lacking in other industries. 

I’m talking about Augmented Reality. 

What is Augmented Reality? Simply put (for once) by Wikipedia: “Augmented Reality is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data (virtual reality), where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.” That is, you see the real world combined with computer generated images at the same time. Nevermind…how about a demo?

Pretty cool, eh? If you want to try it out for yourself, you can visit GE’s site and get everything you need. Essentially, as a marketer you create two things: simple web application and a unique image that is readable by a webcam. When the printed image is viewed through a webcam with your application active, the user sees on their screen a combination of real world (themselves and the printed image) with some added computer generated graphics. If you don’t learn anything further, at least I gave you something cool to impress your friends. 

But I do have something more, a way pharma can use this to market its products and educate patients and physicians.

Granted, the augmented reality demo on a desktop computer is pretty cool. But, many people have been asking “why?” Couldn’t the brand just build the same 3D animation on its site and skip the whole webcam thing? Yes, they could. Being able to see the 3D image on what was once a flat piece of paper adds quite a bit of “wow factor,” but not much else in my opinion.

However, what if this technology was available when you needed it, wherever you were? Like mobile. Nokia had a contest last year for the best mobile game and it happened to be an augmented reality game. Picture being able to activate your mobile phone’s video camera, look through the screen, and see images and video that exist only on your phone screen. Again, it combines the real world (your video) along with computer generated images and video. The winning game was called Ghostwire. If you have a phobia for ghosts, I’d skip the video.

Okay, so that’s a little disturbing, but now you can see a bit about how this technology might work in healthcare. No? Not yet?

Picture Jim who is asked to use a new blood glucose meter to manage his diabetes.  Like most patients, Jim has never injected anyone with anything nor done a test like this. He’s got the same concerns as everyone else who is about to do stick themselves with something. Besides the fear of the pain, Jim’s also concerned about testing in the wrong place. He’s thinking: “What if I hit a nerve or blood vessel?” or “Am I getting a pure sample?” Jim probably has the user guide for the device, but the pictures are a little too generic. The pictures are just drawings and don’t at all look like his hand.

What’s Jim to do? If the company that made his new meter had a simple mobile augmented reality application for his phone, things would be easy for Jim. He could point his phone’s video camera at his palm (one of the test sites) and, in real-time, he’ll see exactly from where he should take the sample…on his hand…in “real life.”

When the software on the phone recognizes Jim’s hand, it highlights the areas where it’s safe to take the blood sample (in red). Jim can visualize it on his own hand and not in some drawing that looks nothing like his own hand. Seeing it this way will surely give him more confidence and help ensure that he’s more compliant with his monitoring from day one. 

What about some other applications for this? Physicians who are training new doctors can point their phone at a part of a patient’s body and visualize what the internal organs might look like. This gives some reference points for where to begin a surgery or to see how different parts of the anatomy interact. Again, it would be the patient’s actual external anatomy with the internal organs visualized within this. How about a sales rep? He could get a volunteer during a demonstration with a doctor and show the effects acid can have on the esophagus. The esophagus would be in the anatomically correct position and the doctor can visualize where erosions are likely to occur. Bonus points for PPI marketers who then could show these erosions being healed. 

Overall, there are a ton of interactive applications for this technology that can help educate patients and physicians using technology that already exists. If you’re interested in creating something like this for your products or want to hear a bit more about how they work, contact us and we can do a quick demo for you. Alternatively, feel free to send a tweet to our resident expert on all things Augmented Reality, Jeff Busdieker.  

So instead of being years behind in digital, here’s your chance to jump years ahead pharma friends. The application of this technology is more relevant to healthcare, in my opinion, than anywhere else. In the beginning, you can use the “wow factor” of this technology to get people’s attention, but then use the value of the technology to educate people and make them your newest customers.

Possibly related posts (auto-generated):

1. How to Avoid FDA Regulations Using Mobile Marketing
2. Pharma Needs an iPhone
3. Healthcare Marketing Needs Some Digital Natives