Designing A Sleek Cannabis X-ray Machine For Cannabis Cultivators, Manufacturers, & Processing Facilities

In this case study, we look at how Empire Group helped the developer of a cannabis decontamination system create a sleek, medical design, preparing high-quality 3D renders on an accelerated timeframe for a critical business development opportunity.

THE CHALLENGE: ADAPT X-RAY DECONTAMINATION SYSTEMS TO FACILITIES THAT CULTIVATE, HARVEST, AND PROCESS CANNABIS FOR COMMERCIAL SALE

With 21 states having legalized the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes, and 16 more for medicinal purposes, the regulated cannabis industry is experiencing explosive growth. MJBizDaily reports that the adult use-cannabis market grew 43% from 2020 to 2021, with sales in 2022 expected to tally over $30 billion—and a $50+ billion-dollar market by 2026.

The rapid scale-up of cultivation and manufacturing operations for cannabis has created a number of new business challenges. One of the most important is cannabis decontamination. Commercially grown cannabis can be contaminated by a variety of sources such as yeasts, mold, and bacteria. These products often have a relatively long shelf-life, and cannabis products need to be treated to ensure that any potential contaminants do not reach consumers.

VJ Scientific, the cannabis solutions division of VJ Group, which offers a variety of X-ray equipment, wanted to develop a solution to address this need. They created an X-ray machine that offers a proven method for decontaminating cannabis products. Their solution can decontaminate cannabis without resorting to heat or chemicals which can damage product quality. And it is paired with monitoring software for automatically managing this irradiation process in real-time.

With no unified state or federal safety standards, each state has their own testing requirements in place, which vary widely. VJ Scientific’s solutions are designed to match even the most stringent safety standards.

Previous versions of this X-ray system, however, were intended for industrial applications. Their functional aesthetic was not ideal for the cannabis industry. With a critical business development opportunity at MJ Biz Con approaching in less than 5 months, VJ Scientific needed to conceptualize, design, and prototype a new system on a rapid timeframe.

THE SOLUTION: COLLABORATING WITH EMPIRE GROUP FOR FAST-TURNAROUND, HIGH-QUALITY 3D PRODUCT RENDERS

Needing a partner with the ability to create a new design and generate high-quality 3D renders in just a few weeks, VJ Scientific consulted with Empire Group to create a new look. The new CX-1000 would evoke a medical-grade aesthetic, with a leaner, more contemporary styling. Empire’s designers took inspiration from large, state-of-the-art industrial machinery that nonetheless exhibits a sleek, modern look. Collaborating with the team at VJ Scientific, Empire’s design group generated a number of different concepts, exploring different choices for the machine’s form and materials.

THE RESULTS: FAST, HIGH-QUALITY 3D RENDERS PROPEL THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW PRODUCT DESIGN

After iterating many different versions, the Empire Group team settled on a final design. VJ Scientific approved this version as a strong fit for their vision of modern, medical-grade system. From here, our team proceeded to develop photorealistic renderings that could be used to market the system at trade shows and other events.

The CX-1000 was officially launched on November 16, 2022, and was recently featured in Forbes. We look forward to seeing this device make a contribution to consumer safety in a rapidly growing new industry. Manufacturers are drawn to this more modern, clean aesthetic. And the system’s high-tech look can even help enhance the perception of cannabis manufacturers as tech-savvy and safety-focused.

Summarizing the results of this project, VJ Scientific said:
“I knew exactly who to call when my company needed high quality and quick-turn design concepts and renderings for VJ Scientific’s new CX-1000 Cannabis Decontamination System. There’s no team I would rather have worked with. They are a very talented group, and they made our accelerated product launch possible from a marketing standpoint.

Many people have commented on the quality of the renderings and the final look of the system. It’s hard to make an industrial machine look ‘sexy,’ but Empire Group delivered a fresh, clean, and modern design that made a huge impact on customer perception.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT EMPIRE GROUP’S DESIGN AND 3D RENDERING SERVICES

If you are interested in learning more about Empire’s approach to photorealistic 3D modeling, please see our blog here. 3D product renders can offer outstanding value for product and business development use cases where a physical prototype is not yet cost-effective or physically convenient.

Rapid iteration of a new design and timely generation of high-quality renders requires a holistic skillset including visual art, engineering, and behavioral science. Retaining this skillset in-house can be costly, which is precisely why a full-service product development team can be so valuable. At Empire Group, our industrial design team collaborates closely with industrial engineers to home in on a product vision that solves technical challenges without sacrificing user experience, aesthetics, or manufacturability.