Slovakia, a landlocked country in central Europe, is bordered by the Czech Republic in the northwest, Poland in the north, Ukraine in the east, Hungary in the south and Austria in the southwest. This year, it is the first time that Slovakia has participated in the China-CEEC Expo.

“As a ‘newcomer’ to the Expo, although our products cannot be seen or touched, we believe they will leave a deep impression on clients,” said Marian Zelina, CEO of Sanitas Slovaca, or Agency for Health Development in Slovakia.

As a medical organization with its own R&D and medical technologies, Sanitas Slovaca provides professional healthcare marketing and education services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries by leveraging cutting-edge multimedia solutions, with a particular focus on the application of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.

“Following Europe and the United States, we hope to expand our business in China through the China-CEEC Expo and seek cooperation from pharmaceutical companies, universities and research centers,” according to Marian Zelina. With over a decade’s industry experience, Sanitas Slovaca uses VR and AR to make online apps available on Android and iOS systems. In addition, they also produce 3D animation and 3D shooting. More recently, they even created virtual cosmic planets and volcanic eruptions simulating chocolate balls and chocolate molten lava in commercials for Lyra, a popular Slovak  chocolate brand.

“We can meet, learn, teach and train with the help of VR, even if our activities in the real world are limited. VR can be used across industries and holds great promise in fields such as education, construction, the energy sector or medicine. It can be effectively used in high-risk areas, such as training staff at a nuclear power plant or training doctors to do surgery, which can avoid endangering patients’ safety,” explained Marian Zelina.

Sanitas Slovaca’s booth at the Expo may not attract as many visitors as a food booth or a wine booth does, but it is much smarter.