Compact Syngas Solutions build compact units that turn waste biomass into usable power. Their international buyers couldn't grasp how large or capable the machinery was, and during the pandemic nobody could travel to see it.
Our sister studio Animated Technologies had already made a technical animation of the plant, but buyers still struggled to appreciate its true size and footprint from a flat screen. International prospects couldn't travel to inspect the equipment, and the CSS team couldn't travel to them. Standard product presentations weren't giving buyers and investors the confidence they needed to commit. The challenge was to put people inside the product without anyone leaving their desk.
We took the optimised 3D models from the animation project and built a fully navigable VR environment at real-world scale. Users walk round the plant at 1:1, taking in its footprint and physical presence in a way no video can.
Interactive hotspots on the key components explain what each part does and its role in the energy conversion process. Multi-user sessions let the CSS team and their clients stand inside the same virtual plant together from anywhere in the world, so sales conversations, technical walkthroughs and investor demos happen inside the product itself.
CSS now have a remote-first sales and demonstration tool that needs no travel or site logistics. Prospective buyers can explore a life-size, interactive version of the plant and build the understanding they need to make a decision.
Because it reused models that already existed, the project extended the value of the original animation rather than starting from scratch. The same approach works for any equipment maker with CAD or animation assets already in hand.
Walk round the real footprint.
Each key component explained in place.
Sales team and buyers together, from anywhere.
What the simulation gives the CSS sales team.
The same 3D model also powers MicroHub by CSS, an app we built for Compact Syngas Solutions to showcase the technology. Prospects and investors can explore the MicroHub in interactive 3D, tap into technical details at each stage of the process, and place it in their own surroundings using augmented reality.
One set of models now works across animation, a multi-user VR walk-round and a mobile app, so each new piece builds on the last rather than starting again.
Thirty minutes with us. We will tell you honestly whether VR is the right tool, what it would cost and how long it would take.
