The State of VR Heading Into 2021
By Mark Schauer, Director, R&D Studio, 84.51°
With the winter holidays upon us, and the gift buying season in full swing, many shoppers are looking to technology for gift ideas to help check off their holiday lists. And while PlayStation and Xbox garner most of the attention, VR, or virtual reality, continues to build a solid following. VR has been around in some form for decades. However, recent advancements have made VR much more attainable to the average consumer, bringing this technology into living rooms in increasing numbers.
In my previous article, I covered the release of the Oculus Quest. This product was introduced to consumers at a far lower price point than its predecessors and eliminated the need for powerful PCs and separate tracking stations. Truly a leap toward bringing VR to the masses, the release of the Quest, Quest 2, and similar second-generation systems left retailers asking themselves what opportunities might be available to offer VR shopping experiences to the growing number of users.
Modern technology evolves in exponential fits. But 2020 brought with it its own set of unique challenges. So how has VR progressed over the past year? And, with it, the advent of the VR shopping experience?
Virtual reality trends continue to develop
The Quest and Quest 2 remain the standard bearers for consumer-grade VR, as expected. Both systems offer good hardware at a decent price. The only downside is Facebook’s ownership of the Quest and the required Oculus platform, which has left many developers and users with a bad taste in their mouths in light of recent privacy invasion allegations. Unfortunately, HTC (the makers of the Vive VR systems) failed to deliver a compelling standalone device. Users are left with one good option that has some tradeoffs.
The VR software ecosystem has continued to develop and become more robust. Popular VR games like Beat Saber have secured big name partnerships with well-known musical acts including Imagine Dragons and BTS. And while it’s not available for the Quest, the game Half-Life: Alyx introduced the successful Half-Life franchise to the VR ecosystem. And apps like Big Screen create virtual social environments where you can hang out with your friends and watch movies, TV, sports or other live events.
The opportunities for retailers are still there
In my last article, I wrote about the experiences that brands and retailers can create for their customers using VR. I still believe these opportunities exist. But for success, they’ll have to be better and faster than shopping in-store or using traditional e-commerce. So, what does this look like? Let me show you our treehouse:
The treehouse provides a calm, clean and relaxing environment for customers to do their shopping.
Shoppers can use voice commands such as “pizza” or “usuals” to search for specific products or show a selection of products often purchased in the past.
Detailed product info allows shoppers to compare products (in 2D for now but in 3D as the library gets built out) and easily build their basket, finally completing their order through the Kroger mobile app.
While the VR industry gawks at hand tracking, what I find far more interesting is the combination of VR with natural language processing and voice input. We can be choiceful when we use visuals, touch, sound, and voice to create experiences that are streamlined as well as easier, faster, and better than when used individually or in real life.
Summary
Despite all the leaps and bounds it’s made over the years, VR is still primarily a gaming platform. And right now, VR has to compete with the launch of new PlayStation and Xbox platforms. This is no easy task.
Should brands and retailers get into VR? My answer is yes. 3D assets required for VR have uses today in other e-commerce channels and will put you in a good position to accelerate future channels. Interactions explored in VR also translate well to other AR/XR solutions. The foundation is laid, the hardware has matured, and the software is compelling.
So, will you as a brand or retailer see immediate success integrating VR into the experience you offer your customers? There’s only one way to find out.
