ERGOandDemodernLaunchFirstInsuranceAppforLiveConsultationinVirtualSpace
Düsseldorf/Hamburg – June 5, 2023 - ERGO and the technology agency Demodern, with offices in Hamburg and Cologne, have launched the first virtual consulting app with a live dialogue function for insurance. With the innovative project “ERGO VR Experience”, customers can now immerse themselves in an insurance scenario virtually and receive real-time advice. Interested parties meet with an ERGO advisor via VR app and headset, who guides them through a chosen setting. The first available use case is a 3D mountain environment, where customers receive immersive advice on the insurance solution “Travel Health Insurance.” They are provided with explanations and visualizations of potential risks that may arise during a mountain hike and need to be insured. Additionally, they can ask further questions about insurance products during the conversation. Demodern, an expert in creative technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Metaverse solutions, is responsible for implementing the pilot. Interested parties receive the download link to the app in the Meta Quest Store after successfully booking an appointment. This can now be booked for free on ERGO's homepage. A separate VR headset from Meta is required for the consultation.
“With the ‘ERGO VR Experience,’ we have succeeded for the first time in making insurance products immersive. What was previously rather abstract and theoretical is now tangible, more understandable, and experiential,” says Mark Klein, Chief Digital Officer of ERGO Group AG and Chairman of the Board of ERGO Digital Ventures AG. “As ERGO, we are convinced that this form of virtual exchange offers real added value for our customers and our sales partners and is a great complement to traditional consulting. Moreover, this is another important step towards the Metaverse for us.”
“ERGO's VR application offers an innovative service through personal consultation in the virtual space. Immersive storytelling and infotainment elevate the quality of consultation to a completely new level,” says Alexander El-Meligi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Demodern. “The business potentials of creative mixed-reality technologies are enormous – we are all the more pleased that ERGO, as an innovation driver, is taking this step.”
For ERGO, the app is another building block in the already successfully established omni-channel strategy of the group. By using mixed-reality technologies, the application aims to pilot a new and innovative consulting service and establish it in the long term. If the response is positive, it will also be made available to ERGO intermediary agencies in the future, which can offer it as a supplement to their traditional consulting.
In addition to the current mountain scenario, further use cases are already planned, for example, in the areas of city travel, ski vacations, or beach holidays. Furthermore, the app will gradually be equipped with additional visual assets and insurance solutions such as trip cancellation or baggage insurance.
For ERGO and Demodern, this is their first collaboration. The joint project started in October 2022. Those who wish to test the app themselves will have the opportunity from June 12 to 15. During this period, ERGO will have a booth at Düsseldorf Airport, at Terminal A. Here, interested parties can test the application on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.