// THE HEADLINE RESULT
Built a fully navigable 3D virtual exhibition hall that replaced the physical congress booth across five major cardiovascular conferences, attracting over 8,200 unique users who spent an average of 42 minutes each exploring themed content halls on heart failure, ASCVD, and cardiovascular disease impact. The platform iterated over four years and became a long-running congress staple.
What It Achieved
At a time when physical congresses were cancelled or severely restricted, the virtual hall gave the client an always-on congress presence that HCPs actively sought out, and kept returning to as new content was added across annual iterations.
15K+
TOTAL UNIQUE
USERS
8,200 in the first version alone, growing to 15,000+ across all congress deployments
42
MINUTES AVERAGE
DWELL TIME
Far exceeding typical pharma digital engagement benchmarks of under 5 minutes
5
MAJOR CONGRESS
DEPLOYMENTS
HFSA, AAFP, Cardiometabolic Health Congress, American Heart Association, and WCIRDC
"The dwell time blew us away. HCPs weren't just clicking through: they were exploring, watching videos, going back to sections. It performed like nothing we'd done before digitally."
DIGITAL EXPERIENCE LEAD · GLOBAL PHARMA CLIENT
// RECOGNITION & AWARDS
◆
Brand Design Portfolio Award Entry
IPG HEALTH BRANDING · Submitted
Years of Continued Development
The platform was not a one-off build: it evolved continuously across four years with new content halls, congress-specific layouts, and visual redesigns for each deployment.
Annual visual refresh and new therapy area halls added per congress cycle
Bespoke congress layouts built for AAFP and AHA with custom navigation and content
Renal disease section added as the client's portfolio expanded
2D web fallback mode developed to maximise reach across all device types
The Context
// WHAT WAS NEEDED
With major medical congresses cancelled or moved online during the pandemic, the client needed more than a slide deck or a webinar: they needed a space HCPs would genuinely want to explore. The brief was to build a virtual exhibition that felt like a real congress booth: navigable, content-rich, and worth spending time in. It had to work in a browser, require no downloads, and be deployable at multiple congresses across different therapy areas.
THE BUILD
I built a full 3D virtual exhibition environment from the ground up in Unity, compiled to WebGL for browser delivery, with no installation required, accessible on any device.
- Circular glass-and-steel exhibition hall architecture with exterior entrance, interior navigation waypoints, and themed content zones per therapy area
- Three content halls: Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD), Heart Failure (HF), and Impact of Cardiovascular Disease, each with independent sections, video content, and interactive panels
- Interactive US CVD data map: a click-to-explore visualisation showing state-level cholesterol prevalence data with supporting video and infographic content
- Media gallery with curated expert video content, bite-sized educational modules, and congress session recordings
- Dual-mode delivery: full 3D navigable experience and a 2D flat-web fallback ensuring accessibility regardless of device capability
- In-hall navigation system with waypoints, directional arrows, section menus, and an overview map for orientation
- User feedback widget (star rating) and live analytics tracking per section, per content piece, and aggregate dwell time
- Congress-specific builds: bespoke layouts, branding, and navigation for AAFP, AHA, and other congress partners
- Integrated Medical Information portal connecting directly to the client's regulated medical enquiry service from within the 3D environment
- Iterative multi-year development: four annual versions with new content areas, redesigned entrances, and expanded therapy coverage
