Virtual Reality (VR) involves a computer-simulated three-dimensional environment that creates an immersive artificial world. The global VR market was valued at $17.25 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $184.66 billion by 2026. VR is not just for video games — the technology has been used in the healthcare industry for many years. However, it is still considered a new concept by many. Year after year, VR is becoming an increasingly powerful tool in the pharmaceutical industry, revolutionizing and advancing the way we live and work. Significant improvements in communications, manufacturing operations, education, training, research, and engagement can all be attributed to VR.
Since the emergence of VR, there have been massive advances in technology — both in hardware and software. As technology continues to evolve, VR is becoming more exciting than ever, offering countless applications that bring scientific communication to life.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the ongoing digital transformation of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. As governments and public health institutions around the world urged us to stay home and follow social distancing guidelines, new challenges arose in maintaining effective communication and connection. This created a need for long-term solutions to enhance digital communications and support the growing shift from in-person meetings and conferences to virtual interactions.
The extraordinary growth in digital communications following the coronavirus pandemic is expected to endure, as effective systems have been implemented that adapt to both our current and future needs.
At Sosadiaz, we create innovative virtual reality experiences that elevate scientific storytelling to an entirely new level. VR technologies transport users into another world, making it the perfect tool for scientific visualization. Users can follow a drug’s journey through the human body or observe molecular structures from different angles. This storytelling format, combined with state-of-the-art VR technology, brings intricate and highly complex messages to life, allowing users to gain a deeper understanding of the science behind a medical product or disease area. It’s easy to see how this technology has opened a new world of possibilities for communication within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
Below, we explore the various ways virtual reality is currently being used to drive innovation in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors:
1. Virtual Reality in Pharmaceutical Sales and Healthcare Professional (HCP) Education
Capturing and retaining attention is essential when it comes to pharmaceutical marketing and sales. Effective use of time is critical, as sales representatives have very limited opportunities to interact with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Competing for a physician’s time and attention is one of the greatest challenges in pharmaceutical marketing.
VR allows sales representatives to make a lasting impact on HCPs by communicating science in a precise and efficient way. Key details are embedded directly into the VR experience, eliminating the need to repeat them in a traditional sales pitch. The use of VR by sales and medical liaison teams in the healthcare industry has proven to be extremely beneficial. Compared to classic sales materials, a VR presentation has been shown to increase the time a sales representative spends with an HCP by 200% — an incredible breakthrough for the industry.
Using a VR application to display an animation in a three-dimensional world is an exciting concept that many pharmaceutical companies are now implementing regularly. The technology enables 360-degree visualizations of drugs, devices, diagnostic mechanisms of action, and even disease research and understanding.
Healthcare professionals can simply put on a headset and see science come to life around them. They can explore how molecules interact with specific body tissues in fascinating and precise detail. Pharmaceutical companies can be confident that VR animations showcasing the mechanisms of action of their products or devices will be seen in an engaging, scientifically accurate format, ensuring that no critical scientific details are “lost in translation” — guaranteeing flawless scientific communication.
2. Product and Device Demonstrations in Virtual Reality
VR offers an excellent solution for showcasing a product or device through virtual demonstrations and 360° view simulations. Virtual reality has dramatically increased engagement levels in product marketing. VR headsets allow viewers to see a product or device from every angle, while also enabling interaction with the content — boosting engagement and helping them better understand how a product or device functions within the body and the mechanisms by which it operates.
By using VR, a simple product or device demonstration or Mechanism of Action (MoA) / Mechanism of Delivery (MoD) can be transformed into a more stimulating and memorable experience that resonates with the viewer, allowing them to grasp how a product or medication works in greater detail. Instead of carrying large samples or physical models to showcase a product or concept, all that’s needed is a lightweight VR headset.
VR has become a key tool at conferences and events, where interactive demonstrations, games, and headset experiences not only attract attention but also capture and retain it.
Product lines and mechanisms of action can be presented through a VR experience, allowing important key messages from trials and research to be explored at the touch of a button.
On the other hand, VR also works effectively remotely. The increasing affordability of VR headsets makes them widely accessible to most companies and institutions. Content can be easily shared and ready to view on any VR device. Headsets can also be conveniently shipped — a major advantage when clients or colleagues are unable to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions.
3. Virtual Reality for Brand Awareness and Stakeholder Engagement
Brand awareness is essential for all pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies — whether large or small. When consumers, investors, and healthcare professionals recognize a company by its name, products, and services, there is a higher likelihood of generating more sales and building lasting relationships.
The use of virtual reality (VR) is a smart and innovative marketing approach for promoting brand awareness among a wide range of stakeholders. Promoting a product or service in a powerful and memorable way has a much greater chance of leaving a lasting impression than a traditional conference, PowerPoint presentation, or printed material.
Immersive VR experiences provide that wow factor companies strive for. Statistics show that the average human attention span is decreasing — emphasizing the need for creative marketing strategies that can capture, immerse, and captivate an audience.
Engaging stakeholders with an experience that encourages reflection is an excellent way to make investor meetings, healthcare professional sessions, or event booths stand out as distinctive, unique, and memorable. The more curious stakeholders become, the more they will want to learn and understand.
4. Virtual Reality for Patient Education and Treatment
The value of virtual reality (VR) in healthcare goes far beyond pharmaceutical marketing. VR is becoming an extremely valuable tool for educating patients about their conditions, medications, treatments, and surgical procedures. As patients grow increasingly curious and engaged in understanding their conditions, treatments, and disease processes, healthcare professionals must be well-prepared to help them comprehend their illness and feel reassured.
Often, the mechanisms by which medications work are highly complex, and many patients struggle to understand how these drugs will affect their bodies. This is where VR comes into play. The opportunity for a patient to become fully immersed in a virtual world can significantly increase awareness of their condition and treatment plan. This helps reduce anxiety and provides patients with a much deeper understanding of their condition, empowering them to make more informed decisions.
Another groundbreaking use of VR is its role in supporting disease diagnosis. VR can be used alongside other diagnostic tools — such as MRIs and CT scans — to help doctors make accurate diagnoses and identify a variety of diseases. It has already been used to assist in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ADHD, brain injuries, and eye conditions.
Additionally, VR is becoming crucial for treatment and therapy within healthcare facilities. It is widely used as an effective form of therapy for patients suffering from anxiety, stress, and psychotic disorders. There is also great promise in using VR for patient rehabilitation, offering stimulating activities that help develop skills in individuals with physical disabilities.
Finally, the capabilities of VR technology are now benefiting surgeons in preparing for complex surgeries and procedures. Immersive VR can be used to visualize a patient’s exact anatomy, allowing surgeons to plan and simulate their approach. This ability to accurately represent anatomy and surgical pathways can minimize complications and improve patient outcomes.
5. Virtual Reality for Medical Training and Education
An increasingly popular use of virtual reality (VR) is in medical training and education within the healthcare industry. Clinicians can be trained using VR headsets to demonstrate how to use medical devices—showing how they function, how they are produced, and how they interact with the human body. This type of virtual training allows medical students and professionals to prepare from the comfort of their homes, making them more skilled and confident when transitioning to hands-on clinical practice.
Medical students require real-world experiences to acquire a high level of medical knowledge. However, it can often be challenging for surgeons in training to gain the practical experience they need to master their surgical skills. This is where VR makes a transformative impact, enabling students to access on-demand, immersive 3D simulated training.
The response from medical students and healthcare professionals to VR has been overwhelmingly positive, with the technology having a significant impact on their scientific understanding and clinical skills.
6. Virtual Reality for Research and Drug Discovery
Understanding a scientific concept—how the body works and how a molecule or drug functions within it—is essential to scientific research. Being able to visualize a concept and immerse oneself in the environment being studied can significantly enhance how we comprehend complex processes. VR not only offers an engaging way to understand information but also promotes deeper comprehension and long-term retention.
Pharmaceutical companies rely heavily on effective data processing within their research and development (R&D) facilities. As the volume of data from drug pipelines and clinical trials continues to grow, these companies are increasingly turning to technology to communicate critical data visually. VR can help visualize and bring data to life in exciting and innovative ways.
One of the primary uses of VR in pharmaceutical research is its implementation in drug–target interaction studies and predicting drug effects in the body. Using VR technology to observe how molecules interact and move within the human body is extremely beneficial for improving drug discovery and preclinical research phases. This capability allows scientists to see molecular interactions and mechanisms that go far beyond what human imagination alone can achieve. As a result, researchers can more effectively restructure and redesign molecules and drugs.
Immersive VR has become a key player in next-generation drug discovery and pharmacological modeling. While traditional 3D models and 2D projections have long been useful tools for researchers, VR offers several advantages for drug discovery and modeling. It allows users to step into the molecular environment and observe the product, drug, or molecule they wish to study in action, providing a new dimension of understanding and innovation in pharmaceutical research.
7. Virtual Reality for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a highly precise process that requires an exceptional level of control and consistency. Pharmaceutical companies typically rely on complex machinery and equipment within their production lines. This equipment involves highly trained specialists who must be properly educated to operate it safely and efficiently. Virtual reality (VR) has been adopted as an important training tool for these operators.
Through VR, equipment can be explained and visualized in detail, allowing operators to fully understand how it functions before ever stepping foot inside a laboratory or production facility. This prior knowledge and understanding reduce the risk of accidents and errors, significantly improving both training quality and overall operational performance.
It’s clear that VR is an extremely beneficial tool in the pharmaceutical industry—regardless of its specific application. This innovative technology has the power to communicate complex information in an engaging, exciting, and interactive way. When used to its full potential, VR can accelerate learning and comprehension, while streamlining pharmaceutical processes.
VR can benefit all stakeholders within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and can be adapted to a wide variety of applications.
The possibilities of VR are endless, and Sosadiaz is continuously exploring new ways to apply VR in the pharmaceutical and medical fields every day. As major advancements in VR continue, practical barriers are being overcome as the technology becomes more accessible, user-friendly, affordable, and efficient.
If you’d like to work with an expert and dedicated team to create an innovative VR experience, we encourage you to get in touch with us.
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