Experience PTC Technology in a Whole New Way

The PTC Corporate Experience Center (CXC) has launched an entirely new way of engaging with our customers, partners, and prospects on a global scale—an elevated experience that truly represents the power digital technology can have on our physical world.

Earlier this year, PTC unveiled the CX Studio—a state-of-the-art and one-of-a-kind facility. The centerpiece of the studio is an Extended Reality (xR) LED immersive wall, as well as a custom-built mobile robot that enables bi-directional communication for PTC to directly engage with virtual audiences.

The studio brings in cutting-edge technology to demonstrate the many ways customers leverage PTC’s solutions through an immersive and interactive experience tailored to the audience. It's designed to wow both in-person and virtual visitors.

Here are just a few benefits of our new and improved solution:

The new CX Studio enables our team to engage with our customers wherever they are. As a global company, it can be difficult to reach all stakeholders across countries and different time zones, with a tailored approach. The xR volume can transport PTC’s thought leaders to any location, whether it’s a factory in Germany or an office in Shanghai. Virtually, we can be wherever our customers need us to be, whenever they need us to be there.

We are creating an on-demand library of content. As a software company with thousands of customers across multiple industries, verticals, and functions, historically, we haven’t been able to display the breadth and depth of stories we look to share with our customers and visitors in a physical capacity. Now that we have the capability to curate our content virtually, we can offer on-demand demonstrations of our products that meet the needs and interests of our diverse audiences.

We are creating interactive virtual experiences. Lastly, with the emerging concept of the metaverse in the social sphere, it’s becoming clear how much more engaging and collaborative virtual experiences can be given the right technologies and approaches. By taking the presentation beyond PowerPoint slides and 2D video, the CXC delivers a more realistic representation of today’s business challenges and demonstrates solutions in-context and in three-dimensions.

“We’re aiming to deliver the most elevated virtual experience our customers have seen – an impactful, inclusive, and customized interaction scaled across the globe,” says Tom Sullivan, Corporate Experience Director.

Now, let’s get into how PTC is delivering this new experience and what a CXC visitor can expect.

xR in the CX Studio

The CXC has always been a showcase for customer use cases of PTCs software in the office, factory, and field; combining our customer’s physical products and experiences to bring to life the impact of PTC’s digital technologies.

As a software company, with no physical products of our own, these demonstrations illustrate how our digital technologies transform the physical world. However, having to physically build customer environments in the space generic enough to support a wide range of customers with one demo isn’t scalable, or as customizable as we aspire for.

That’s where Extended Reality, or xR, comes into play. With it, PTC can fully demonstrate how a customer uses, or can use, our software in the real world.

What is xR?

“Extended Reality (xR) combines the physical with the digital world to create entirely new, immersive environments.”, says Sullivan. “Any place or item, existing or imaginable, can be created virtually and can be combined with real elements or people.”

From corporate events to TV and film production, xR is increasingly being used across industries. The most famous example of the use of this technology is “The Mandalorian” series which was filmed using an xR wall that allowed actors to immerse themselves in an entirely new world and feel like they really are on another planet.

For PTC and its CX Studio, our xR capabilities enable us to do something similar – bring our digital software to life in real products, processes, and places.

“Presenters are transported into virtual environments where product and service education make sense – their customer’s workplaces. Within these environments, they can effectively showcase products from every angle, and explain applications of our software in as much detail as needed,” Sullivan explains further.

Watch the video to get a taste of the type of experience one can expect.

As you can see, the PTC team can present from virtually anywhere: factory, laboratory, Mars, the list goes on. But most of the time, it won’t just be any place - it will be the most relevant location to the audience. With the latest in 3D photogrammetry technology, the team will capture geometry scans from a customer’s actual location to use in xR. The result is situational storytelling that opens the door to conversations about the measurable value PTC brings to organizations.

Strong Connections & Impactful Conversations 

With xR and the CX Studio, PTC can create more sophisticated broadcasts to reach many customers at once and connect with individuals and groups globally on a more conversational basis.

For the latter use case, it was critical to develop an experience where relationships are front and center. This led the team down a path to custom-design and build a mobile robotic pedestal to complement the xR studio and allow for a face-to-face interaction.  

The robotic pedestal was custom-built to support PTC’s unique purposes and goals for the studio. Essentially, it acts as the eyes and ears of the virtual participants. With dual monitors mounted above and below the camera, a presenter can clearly see the faces and hear the voices of those on the phone while maintaining virtual eye-contact with the audience and their content. 

The robotic pedestal system was designed to integrate into the studio’s preset systems, allowing any position of the robot to match specific content on the xR wall and configurations of the lighting system that accompanies it. This allows the presenter to shift gears and share relevant content in real-time, based on where the conversation flows.

Final Thoughts

The CX Studio plays a central role in a new digital engagement strategy. Over the past two years, virtual engagement has become the norm, and as a global company, PTC can now engage with customers in new and compelling ways regardless of location. The studio and new virtual experience is up and running as of March 2022. The CXC team looks forward to welcoming—and wowing—you with our cutting-edge technology and interactive experiences.