EyeKandy – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

October 14, 2018

The VR Job Hub: In The News & In Your Future?

The race towards 2019 has begun in earnest and for some, that also means it is time to move on to pastures new. If that desire has hit you, and you’re interested in the immersive technology sector, then you’ll probably be interested in this week’s edition of The VR Job Hub.

Since it’s been a little while since I’ve written the Job Hub I thought for this week we’ll concentrate on roles at companies that have been in this week’s news. Such as Eyekandy, who we reported about on Friday with their augmented reality (AR) retail platform. Or Improbable, who have recently announced a new London headquarters. Or, how about a role at SIE Japan Studio, the team behind Astro Bot: Rescue Mission?

Check out this week’s listings below.

Location	Company	Role	Link
London, UK	EyeKandy	Virtual Reality Engineer	Click Here to Apply
London, UK	EyeKandy	Business Development Mannager	Click Here to Apply
London, UK	Improbable	Games Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA, US	White Elk Studios	Senior Programmer	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA, US	White Elk Studios	Producer	Click Here to Apply
In US	Insta360	Marketing Campaign Manager/Coordinator	Click Here to Apply
Shenzhen, China	Insta360	Front-End Engineer	Click Here to Apply
California, US	Insomniac Games	Mid/Senior Engine Programmers: Tools	Click Here to Apply
California, US	Insomniac Games	Senior Engine Programmer: Physics	Click Here to Apply
Redmond, WA, US	Microsoft	Senior Electrical Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Redmond, WA, US	Microsoft	Senior Software Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Tokyo, Japan	SIE Japan Studio	Game Programmer	Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to myself (keva@vrfocus.com) and also Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

Check back with VRFocus next Sunday at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the industry.

October 12, 2018

Point & Place AR Shopping Platform Adds Face Tracking

Augmented reality (AR) is becoming increasingly popular as a tool for retailers to aid in sales. AR technology allows customers to virtually try out a product before purchase, so see if it fits in their room, or on their body. Digital commerce company EyeKandy has announced that it hopes to make AR retail technology more accurate with the addition of ‘AR Wearables’ to the Point & Place AR platform.

The AR Wearables function utilises facial tracking technology in order to adjust a selected product, such as glasses or headphones to fit the specific head size of the person viewing the product, letting customers try on wearable products.

Point & Place

“This is not a one size fits all feature roll-out. This is state of the art, cutting edge technology, deployed for the first time in mainstream retail. The Wearables technology allows the forward facing camera on the shopper’s phone to see the specific dimensions of their face and then place, for example, a pair of headphones onto their head. It will dynamically adjust based on each person’s specific head size; it’s not just a static, one size model,” commented Joe Golden Creative Director of EyeKandy.

The company is planning on rolling out the upgrade to all retailers connected to the Point & Place platform for no extra cost.

“We are seeing shoppers want to share the AR experiences with friends and family to get feedback as part of the purchasing process,” Golden continued, “so we made it easy for them to place products on their head, take a picture and send it to friends to get feedback. It’s engaging, its fast, it’s impactful, and it reduces the ‘Imagination Gap’ for the shopper.”

Dave Seedorf, Digital Marketing Manager EMEA at Harmon International added; “We were delighted to be invited to support this initiative as the launch partner, as we love to innovate our Digital Marketing activities continuously. We are convinced that the technology, deployed in this way, will be a fun, educational and personal experience for the shopper. That can only be a good thing.”

EyeKandy

For future coverage of AR use in retail and industry, keep checking back with VRFocus.

July 23, 2018

Visualise Products at Home With Currys PC World’s Point and Place AR App

With the rise of augmented reality (AR) one of the earliest use cases for the technology on an enterprise level for consumers was through retail, with companies like IKEA creating apps that would allow customers to place items digitally in their own home. Now British technology retailer Currys PC World is trying the very same thing with its new Point and Place AR app for Apple devices.

Currys Point and Place

The app is in fact the creation of EyeKandy, a 360 solutions partner for emerging technologies, which initially announced the app last month, with Currys PC World being one of the early adopters.

Using the AR app shoppers are able to select and position fridges, freezers, televisions, printers and more than 800 other products in their own living space, enabling customers to accurately visualise how products will look in their home as part of the pathway to purchase.

“This launch is such an exciting step for the Currys PC World business, placing us ahead of our competitors and at the forefront of technological developments. We ran extensive tests on the impact Augmented Reality shopping has on our customers and found that they are actively interested in the technology and the way it aids their decision making,” said Mark Adkin, Head of UX, Design and Digital Strategy, in a statement. “Our desire, as the UK’s largest electrical retailer, is to ensure that our customers get it right when it comes to buying any product from our extensive range, and Point and Place will assist decision further reduce purchasing risk be it from the comfort of your home or instore.”

Point & Place

“When your shopping for televisions, printers, furniture and a host of other products, shoppers have to imagine how a TV is going to look on their wall, or a printer on their desk, or a coffee machine in the kitchen,” adds Andy Shackleton, CEO of Eyekandy. “Point and Place closes that imagination gap, reducing decision making timelines on purchases, as well as reducing product returns.”

While the Currys Point and Place app is currently only available for Apple devices, EyeKandy’s core Point and Place app does support Android, for those that want to test it out. For further AR app updates, keep reading VRFocus.

June 30, 2018

EyeKandy Launches Point & Place AR Service Platform For Retailers

EyeKandy, a global leader in A-Commerce solutions has announced the laugh of Point & Place, a turnkey augmented reality (AR) platform for brands and retailers. The new AR platform wil enable brands and retailer to take advantage of the ever growing consumer awareness of AR technologies and deliver a more engaging shopping experience.

Point & Place

Point & Place works by allowing users with a smart device the chance to take a digital recreation of a product and visualize it within their own home. A number of business already make use of the technology, such as IKEA, but with EyeKandy’s Point & Place platform more businesses with be able to leverage this solution without the need for costly overheads to developer their own AR platform.

Andy Shackleton, CEO of EyeKandy commented; “Point & Place offers an ‘Instant On’ for retailers to offer AR shopping. With a portfolio of over a thousand, high quality, AR product models, across fifteen product categories including; Home Appliances, Consumer Electronics, Furniture and more EyeKandy have democratised AR Shopping in retail for the many, not just the few.”

“Point & Place helps close the ‘Imagination Gap’ for consumers. When you’re shopping for televisions, printers, furniture and a host of other products, shoppers have to imagine how a TV is going to look on their wall, or a printer on their desk, or a coffee machine in the kitchen.” Shackleton continues: “Point and Place closes that imagination gap, reducing decision making timelines on purchases, as well as reducing product returns.”

EyeKandy

The application is set to be available in fifteen languages and is already live across a number of countries with retailers including Vanden Borre, SaveHyperonline, Curry’s and Euronics. Users will be able to explore over a thousand products with many more continuously being added across fifteen product categories to allow for easy searching and placement within the real-world. In turn this will allow for a more streamlined shopping experience for customers which will remove a lot of guesswork with online shopping and hopefully lead to increased sales.

David Hart, Head of online at Savehyperonline added; “the process to get the AR product models added to our product pages was simple and required almost no development time. We went from zero to leading the market in terms of offering AR shopping to our customers within a week with the solution.”

The app is just the start of a dynamic AR product roadmap that EyeKandy will be working on over the next twelve months. Point & Place app is available now for supported iOS and Android devices and to stay up to date on all the latest developments for this platform, keep reading VRFocus.