A fitting way to VIEW THE PRACTICE OF THE FUTURE
You step into the practice, and turn your head to glance past the reception desk. You look the other way,
and see the hallway leading back to the operatories.
Sounds like any other experience at thousands of dental offices nationwide, right? The only difference is
this practice is virtual, and you’re wearing the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Thanks to a new effort of Patterson Dental’s DesignEdge office design platform, that virtual reality is
an actual reality today. The technology has been released, and will be available at all of the major dental
conferences this spring.
“We’re going to use this tool to change the way we design and the way doctors and team members
experience a practice’s design,” said Mike Stark, corporate design manager at Patterson. “DesignEdge
already offers 3D office design software, and now we’re introducing the next step.”
ARTICLE TOOLS
PRINT
SHARE
With a two-dimensional design layout or a three-dimensional design rendering, you can get an idea of how a
practice will look. But you can’t truly be in the space, see how it feels to walk down the halls,
and turn into an operatory to see your actual equipment.
Eventually, as virtual reality (VR) technology becomes more integrated into DesignEdge, Patterson will
be able to offer a customized VR experience. Through that experience, doctors and team members will
be able to walk through a 3D rendering of their own new or remodeled practice, true to scale and with
their desired equipment and technology.
“There are a variety of ways we’ll be able to use this, but most importantly, you’ll be able to
truly experience a practice before you make the investment,” said Nate Hill, principal architect, systems and development.
“It’s the perfect fit with our DesignEdge platform, through which we continue to find new ways to see
what it feels like to be in a new space.”
Currently, the DesignEdge VR experience features a sample practice to introduce the platform to dental professionals.
It has already been featured at the American Dental Association Annual Meeting.