Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
Don't have a powerful Xbox One X console yet? If you're looking for a great deal, Walmart currently has it bundled with Fallout 76 for just $399. Also included are one-month trials to Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold.
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If you're interested in pre-ordering the new BioWare game Anthem, consider doing it at Walmart. The retailer is offering a $10 digital gift card with pre-orders on both Xbox and PS4.
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The holidays are the perfect time to bring out the board games and get everyone engaged in some family fun. Walmart is now offering free eGfit cards when you purchase a new board game. This deal can save you up to $20 on your next order.
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Black Friday and Cyber Monday have both come and gone, but you can still save some cash on a new Xbox One bundle at Walmart. Both the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X are on sale now.
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Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the past, but you can still get some bang for your buck on game consoles before the holiday season is done. Walmart has various Nintendo Switch bundles on sale right now.
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These are doubtless challenging times for brick-and-mortar retailers who prove slow to incorporate new technologies in their operations – we don’t need to look much further than the collapse of Sears for a high profile recent casualty. But disruption also means opportunity for those who embrace innovation and are willing to reinvent themselves in the digital age, and immersive technologies are becoming an increasingly big part of that picture.
According to various analysts, AR will drive $122 billion in eCommerce spending by 2022 with e-Commerce expected to be the number 1 sector for AR. Smart retailers are looking to visualization tools like 3D products, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality as a way to show off more products in less space (or in the customer’s home), which reduces the need for square footage.
Amazon, IKEA, and Wayfair are all using these technologies to bring together the advantages of online shopping with brick and mortar retailing to add value to real-world shopping experiences with a minimal learning curve for both employees and customers. Macy’s Virtual Reality furniture experience, for example, allows people to design their own living spaces, populating it with items from Macy’s extensive catalog of products, using a headset VR headset to then walk around these spaces in Virtual Reality.
“There’s really no air between “traditional retailers” and “online retailers” anymore,” says Beck Besecker, Co-founder and CEO of Marxent, the 3D Cloud platform which powers the Macy’s experience. “The “traditional” players (like Macy’s) are embracing new technology and e-commerce sales tools, while online retailers are looking to move into the real world by opening stores or acquiring companies that already have them. (Think Amazon buying Whole Foods.) Moving forward, any retailer that’s not utilizing some combination of immersive technology with a physical presence in the real world is in danger of being left behind.”
Macy’s invested in a pilot for three months in three stores of different sizes, and saw positive results. Based on those, they decided to roll out the technology to 70 stores, a process which was completed in October, with a further 20 locations set to go online by January 2019.
“Customers can take a 2D floorplan and transition it to 3D in real time,” said Besecker. They also offer the opportunity for customers to use AR to place the product in their actual living spaces. Since implementation started, VR-influenced furniture sales have increased by more than 60 percent versus non-VR furniture sales, while returns are down to less than 2 percent when using VR.
“Since immersive technologies like VR still require some human assistance and expensive headsets most people don’t have at home, brick-and-mortar retailers have an edge to provide this type of on-site immersive shopping experiences,” Mickaël Jordan, Co-founder and COO of Augment, a company which works with many retailers to integrate immersive tech functionality into their offering. “In the meantime, the rise of the ‘endless aisle’ enabled by VR means that in the long run brick-and-mortar retailers will need to reduce the size of their stores drastically. The combination of physical and digital means much less space is required to show physical products, while a bit more space is required to provide high quality digital experiences.”
Ikea is one retailer that shows how this balance can be struck in a smart way by providing VR as an on-site service in strategic places where it makes sense to do so, such as helping shoppers build their kitchen with a specialist and visualize it in an immersive way. In parallel they also offer AR capabilities to let customers see how items look in their own home environment with the Ikea Place mobile app.
The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, has also embraced immersive technology in a wide variety of ways. They have actively explored the use of Mixed Reality technology such as the HoloLens to streamline its warehouse operations and recently integrated an AR functionality into their official app to help customers price-check items quickly in store (something that was created by a team of employees during an internal hackathon).
“When a customer launches the scanner, they get a direct connection between the digital and the physical world that their screen and camera lens creates for them,” says Tim Fields, Senior Engineering Manager at Walmart Labs.
In addition to filing patents for its own virtual showroom, the company also partnered with Spacee to create interactive Nest thermostat displays for several of their stores using what’s known as “post mobile AR” or “simulated reality” where any surface can be transformed into a touchscreen, effectively bypassing the need to use a device such as a tablet or smartphone.
Walmart’s most ambitious VR rollout to date, however, has been in staff training. They are scaling up their use of STRIVR’s VR training program on the Oculus Go in a bid to offer access to such training to every one of its U.S. based employees. Across the country, they will be sending 17,000 Oculus Go headsets to every Walmart supercenter, Neighborhood Market and discount store.
Andy Trainor, Walmart’s senior director of U.S. Academies, says that the way VR promotes experiential learning translates into better results across the board: “When you watch a module through the headset, your brain feels like you actually experienced a situation. We’ve seen that VR training boosts confidence and retention while improving test scores 10 to 15 percent – even those associates who simply watched others experience the training saw the same retention boosts,” he explains.
“The immersiveness of well executed VR products and services creates an emotive connection between the employee and the content they are experiencing,” agrees Andy Mathis, Head of Partnerships, Oculus for Business. “We are seeing early results that when an employee feels a connection with training content through VR, they retain more of the training, and show better results, faster, in the execution of their jobs. This illustrates very real ROI.”
Walmart plans to use VR to train associates in soft skills like empathy and customer service, and compliance, yet the technology is also particularly helpful in teaching employees how to use new technology. In a pilot test this summer, 10 of their stores used VR for training on new Pickup Tower units before they were even installed, with no instructors required on site. And although Walmart won’t share specific costs, it is clear that VR training compares favorably to traditional methods both in terms of pricing and flexibility, which is why, by the end of the year, the company aims that all of its more than 1 million associates will have had access to VR technology at their stores across the U.S.
“VR training helps us train more associates on a large variety of topics. We have more than 45 virtual reality training modules covering areas like compliance training, new technology and soft skills,” says Michelle Malashock, Corporate Communications at Walmart, adding that having access to the standalone Oculus Go headsets was a key part of scaling up the deployment.
“The portability and low price point of Oculus Go lends itself to scaled deployments, and the Walmart deployment of the Oculus Go in all 4,500+ of their US retail stores for employee training will represent a truly scaled, nationwide deployment of VR in a retail setting,” Mathis adds.
Joel Breton, VP Global VR Content at HTC Vive, believes there is vast untapped potential in virtual commerce: “The Immersive retail content category is an absolutely massive opportunity that has yet to be fully explored or developed by most retailers, he says. “At Vive Studios, we are very engaged with several retail partners to help them develop and deploy immersive v-commerce solutions to their business,” he explains.
Besecker concludes that they are “beyond encouraged” by these initial results, adding that customers seem to really love this new immersive way of shopping. “We hear the same things over and over again: The furniture looked and fit in the real world exactly like it did in VR; the process made them feel more confident in their purchases; they would not have purchased that day without the VR. The customers we’ve talked to enthusiastically recommend VR visualization to their friends and can’t wait to use it again.”
If established retailers are able to use immersive technology to energize customers and give them reasons to not only visit their stores, but make more purchases and fewer returns, this could indeed prove a game changer for struggling high streets and provide a much-needed boost for the economy, as well as a way for people to become familiar with technologies such as VR without needing to commit to purchasing a headset for their home. It would be interesting if, rather than gaming or even porn, it was shopping that finally gave VR the biggest push towards mass-market adoption. Whether or not that’s the case will probably become clearer over the course of the next year or so as more merchants follow suit and bring out their own immersive offerings.
Tagged with: Amazon, shopping, walmart
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When things get stressful, you need to take a little ‘me time’ – goodness knows we all know that. When you’re the Lord of darkness and in charge of a very busy hotel however, getting away from it all comes with a lot of baggage.
But for Dracula there is no escape from his friends the Drac Pack, or his father, nor it seems everyone else that works at his hotel either. That’s not even mentioning the giant dog in a trench coat his Grandson is smuggling along for the ride. All of which was covered earlier this year in Hotel Transylvania 3.
Now Sony Pictures has teamed up with virtual reality (VR) book company Quantum Storey to create a special activity booklet that will allow owners of the forthcoming Hotel Transylvania 3 VR Studio edition to take a holiday of their own. A virtual one with all their favourite characters from the Hotel Transylvania films and engage in activities in both 360 degree video and augmented reality (AR).
“With this new product platform, consumers now have the ability to ‘step inside’ and interact with scenes from the film for a deeper, immersive 360° VR experience.” Explained Senior Vice President of Digital Distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Pete Wood. “After seeing the capability of Quantum Storey’s extended reality platform with their Operation YOU VR book series, we are thrilled to bring this new product category to market combining the immersive world of VR and AR with physical books and for the first time putting consumers inside the world of Hotel Transylvania.”
“We are incredibly excited to be working side-by-side with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to launch this new consumer product.” Added J.M. Haines, Quantum Storey Co-Founder. “Sony Pictures is an ideal launch partner for us – in addition to being a leader in creating world-class content with a rich library of titles, they have long been at the cutting edge of technology. Working with them on this collaboration has enabled us to see first-hand their passion for delivering incredible new experiences to customers.”
The VR Studio edition of Hotel Transylvania 3 will feature the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital versions of the film as well as the activity book and will be available only at Walmart stores in America.
VRFocus will bring you more news about AR and VR in the entertainment industry very soon.
By now a number of industries, sectors and businesses have established that the immersive nature of virtual reality (VR) makes it an idea way to train staff in a way that is realistic, but lacks the inherent risks in training new employees in the real-world scenarios. Another company which has now come to this conclusion is retail giant Walmart.
Walmart previously brought VR headsets to its Walmart Academies in an attempt to improve training. Having seen positive results from that project, the company is now planning to offer Oculus Go headsets to all its US stores.
From next month, over 1 million Walmart employees will be given the opportunity to try out the VR training. This will mean that four Oculus Go headsets will be arriving at every Walmart supercenters, while neighbourhood market and discount stores will get two headsets each. The aim is to allow every member of staff to have access to the same kind of training given to managers and department managers.
“The great thing about VR is its ability to make learning experiential,” said Andy Trainor, Walmart’s senior director of Walmart U.S. Academies. “When you watch a module through the headset, your brain feels like you actually experienced a situation. We’ve also seen that VR training boosts confidence and retention while improving test scores 10 to 15 percent – even those associates who simply watched others experience the training saw the same retention boosts.”
The Walmart training scenarios were created using software from leading VR training company STRIVR, who have also worked with athletes and sports teams to deliver training content that is realistic, relevant and repeatable.
“We are entering a new era of learning, and Walmart continues to lead the way,” said Derek Belch, CEO of STRIVR, which worked with Walmart on its initial launch of VR in Academies last year. “The power of VR is real, and when offered as a cornerstone of learning and development, it can truly transform the way an organization trains its people.”
For future coverage on how VR is being used in training, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Walmart is set to expand its fledgling VR training program in a big way soon; the big box store is going to start a country-wide training program promising to bring over 17,000 Oculus Go headsets to its employees by the year’s end.
The company is sending four headsets to every Walmart Supercenter, and two to every Neighborhood Market and Discount Store. Walmart says in a blogpost that “every associate – including those on the floor who interact with customers the most – will have access to the same training that their managers and department managers do at the Academies.”
Oculus Go is Oculus’ recently released $200 standalone VR headset. Because it doesn’t require a smartphone or other computing device to run, it’s decidedly a good fit for a massive VR training program like Walmart’s.
A pilot test conducted this summer saw 10 stores outfitted with a VR training program on how to operate Walmart Pickup Towers, the company’s latest innovation that lets you pick up your online orders directly from the store through a vending machine-style kiosk.
To boot, Walmart has already developed more than 45 activity-based learning modules using software provided by STRIVR, the same company that creates VR training software for the NBA, NFL and NHL. The company plans to use the Oculus Go headsets to train employees in three main areas: new technology, “soft skills” like empathy and customer service, and compliance.
“We are entering a new era of learning, and Walmart continues to lead the way,” said Derek Belch, CEO of STRIVR, which worked with Walmart on its initial launch of VR in Academies last year. “The power of VR is real, and when offered as a cornerstone of learning and development, it can truly transform the way an organization trains its people.”
The program is said to kick off next month, and presumably will become a part of both new employee training and cross-training of existing employees in new tech such as the company’s Pickup Towers.
“The great thing about VR is its ability to make learning experiential,” said Andy Trainor, Walmart’s senior director of Walmart U.S. Academies. “When you watch a module through the headset, your brain feels like you actually experienced a situation. We’ve also seen that VR training boosts confidence and retention while improving test scores 10 to 15 percent – even those associates who simply watched others experience the training saw the same retention boosts.”
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Walmart and VR startup STRIVR are expanding a partnership and distributing Oculus Go headsets for worker training at every store.
The roll out should see 17,000 Oculus Go headsets distributed to Walmart stores for employee training — four going to every Supercenter and two heading to each Neighborhood Market or Discount Store before the year is out. The standalone VR headsets can be used with more than “45 activity-based modules” for training Walmart associates in “new technology, soft skills like empathy and customer service, and compliance.”
Walmart kicked off its program with STRIVR last year after the startup showed early adoption with athletic training through scenes captured from the real world and shown in a VR headset. A quarterback could get extra play repetitions without leaving the house and a skier could train for the Olympics without needing to be on the mountain.
With Walmart, the company pilot tested this summer training associates how to load the new “Pickup Tower” which allows customers to pick up online orders without interacting with another human being.
“VR is allowing associates to be trained before the towers are even installed – no teachers required,” a Walmart blog post reads. VR is said to boost “confidence and retention while improving test scores 10 to 15 percent,” according to Walmart’s Andy Trainor, who directs training.
The latest effort could introduce 1 million Walmart store workers to standalone virtual reality powered by Facebook. The 17,000 headsets, at roughly $200 each, is an investment of less than $3.5 million in hardware plus STRIVR’s training program. That isn’t exactly a large expense for an operation of Walmart’s scale, so if this project is successful we might see other companies following suit.
And if employees actually enjoy the training via VR headset? Facebook just showed workers at the largest employer and retailer in the United States why one might want to buy an Oculus VR headset. Come 2019 when a different class of standalone arrives capable of playing must-have games like Beat Saber and Superhot, Walmart might have a lot of employees ready to speak to customers from personal experience.
That’s certainly one way to get one billion people into VR I hadn’t considered before.
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