I must be not visionary enough. When online shopping, I have rarely wished to see more of a product but rather missed more tactile engagements: are these clothes soft, thin or thick? Do these shoes fit my unusual shape feet? And so forth.
I feel this is the biggest opportunity : how will these clothes fit you.
Let me use my smartphone to register my body automatically(ios or android, they have enough sensors to map my body just with the camera and ML), then show me how this jean will fit me.
Of course one of the biggest issue would be that clothes have pretty large size variation (most of the fabrication is still done manually).
Yeah... Probably. I suspect that they don't really have a clear idea for how this will "reimagine at-home shopping" in 5-10 years.
Online shopping has often been a mental goto for people trying to imagine how technology will change commerce. The 90s boom/bust was full of retailers, cargo-cult online versions of regular retailers. Amazon worked, but nothing else did. Even Amazon never made profits directly from retailing physical products.
In reality (post bust) the first big industry to really go online was travel, with hotels, flights and such going mostly online very fast. Even faster than software, interestingly.
I think it's a parallel to robots for automation. For automated hotels or whatnot, people generally imagine an atm-like check-in desk. Robot maid. Robot room service. Robot consierge.. Jetsons. In reality, the check-in is your phone, an extension of your non-existant travel agent. The robot maid might be a self cleaning bathroom, where the entire room "flushes". Room service is just-eat...
People use robots as mental place-holders, for tasks people will not do in the future. Sometimes they take it literally. They do the same with digital department stores, for ecommerce.
So.. I dunno. I doubt Walmart will be the thing that's revolutionised early by ar/vr. Maybe a vr view of a model wearing something would be good, but I doubt it's important until the devices are ubiquitous. Ie, not a "killer app", which is what matters now.
For now, I think you'd get more mileage by developing the current generation of online stores. For example, have 3-4 models of different ages, shapes and sizes wear stuff. Use video for browsing. Use a Starbucks instead of a runway. ..way better/more content..use the technology people already have.
From my observation rather than first hand experience, buying dresses online is like playing roulette. The models bodies rarely match the customers, so how the dress will sit and flow is near impossible to tell. I have enough trouble buying dress shirts online!
Not sure how VR would solve this, non-VR 3D people models that could be customized in various dimensions, along with models of the dress and simulation of the fabric could improve the shopping experience.
VR is probably more applicable to buying items for the home, rather than clothes.
Many/most online clothes retailers now include detailed measurements of their apparel. Buy a soft tailors measuring tape on Amazon for a few dollars and you can get very precise fits, actually much better than buying in person I find.
In addition, there's a huge focus now on material, both in the niche digital-only nerd-friendly companies like Outlier, Mission Workshop and Taylor and Stitch but in more mainstream companies like Banana Republic.
This acquisition reeks of some C level exec trying to play or at least attempting to play catch-up to the likes of Amazon and Google and other online major retailers.
I know a couple of people who work at Walmart R&D, and while I'm certainly no insider, I do know that they have had people working on VR/AR for at least a couple of years in a serious way.
[+] [-] chx|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomerico|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] on_and_off|8 years ago|reply
I feel this is the biggest opportunity : how will these clothes fit you. Let me use my smartphone to register my body automatically(ios or android, they have enough sensors to map my body just with the camera and ML), then show me how this jean will fit me.
Of course one of the biggest issue would be that clothes have pretty large size variation (most of the fabrication is still done manually).
[+] [-] dalbasal|8 years ago|reply
Online shopping has often been a mental goto for people trying to imagine how technology will change commerce. The 90s boom/bust was full of retailers, cargo-cult online versions of regular retailers. Amazon worked, but nothing else did. Even Amazon never made profits directly from retailing physical products.
In reality (post bust) the first big industry to really go online was travel, with hotels, flights and such going mostly online very fast. Even faster than software, interestingly.
I think it's a parallel to robots for automation. For automated hotels or whatnot, people generally imagine an atm-like check-in desk. Robot maid. Robot room service. Robot consierge.. Jetsons. In reality, the check-in is your phone, an extension of your non-existant travel agent. The robot maid might be a self cleaning bathroom, where the entire room "flushes". Room service is just-eat...
People use robots as mental place-holders, for tasks people will not do in the future. Sometimes they take it literally. They do the same with digital department stores, for ecommerce.
So.. I dunno. I doubt Walmart will be the thing that's revolutionised early by ar/vr. Maybe a vr view of a model wearing something would be good, but I doubt it's important until the devices are ubiquitous. Ie, not a "killer app", which is what matters now.
For now, I think you'd get more mileage by developing the current generation of online stores. For example, have 3-4 models of different ages, shapes and sizes wear stuff. Use video for browsing. Use a Starbucks instead of a runway. ..way better/more content..use the technology people already have.
[+] [-] steve19|8 years ago|reply
Not sure how VR would solve this, non-VR 3D people models that could be customized in various dimensions, along with models of the dress and simulation of the fabric could improve the shopping experience.
VR is probably more applicable to buying items for the home, rather than clothes.
[+] [-] tyu100|8 years ago|reply
In addition, there's a huge focus now on material, both in the niche digital-only nerd-friendly companies like Outlier, Mission Workshop and Taylor and Stitch but in more mainstream companies like Banana Republic.
[+] [-] GuiA|8 years ago|reply
https://www.roadtovr.com/linkin-park-release-vr-experience-b...
[+] [-] fudgy73|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] debt|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LyndsySimon|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NoSkillCap|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Gustomaximus|8 years ago|reply
I suspect it will be great for viewing realestate/hotels/resorts type purchase before booking or travelling to see a house in person.