Successful XR at events starts with a clear objective and audience, a few selective content routes and a story built around three questions: what the visitor is looking at, why it matters to their work and what to discuss next.

Sartorius wanted to show its entire product portfolio at the booth, which would have been logistically and economically impractical with physical equipment. With HakoBio’s mixed reality solution, the team built a virtual facility instead, showing each piece of equipment in its intended process line and context. Done well, XR opens doors: typically 30–40% of participants move on to deeper sales discussions at the booth.

Before the doors open, every staff member should rehearse the full visitor journey, train to facilitate as well as to operate, and set up hygiene, cleaning and comfort routines; motion sickness affects very few people but should still be planned for.

During the event, invite visitors with a clear reason to take part, brief them first, tailor the content to their interests and keep illustrative demonstrations distinct from validated training or engineering review. Between sessions, reset the equipment and hand each visitor over to the next conversation: typically 30–40% of participants move into further booth discussions.

After the event, track tours, guest numbers, session duration and follow-up discussions, keep participation, engagement and commercial outcomes distinct, and use the findings to turn XR into a deliberate touchpoint in the customer journey.

Planning XR for your next trade show, customer event or showroom? Download the full best-practice guide below for practical advice on preparing your team, running sessions and turning visitor interest into follow-up conversations.

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_{Authors: Manon Slotte, Max Abeillon, Moritz von Stosch}