Research shows that the impact of digital retailing on the way consumers shop is increasing dramatically. And, as millennials and Gen Z buying power increases, smartphones are proving to be the preferred mobile device when making purchases across categories. Dassault Systemès’ 3DEXCITE brand recently ran an open house to demonstrate the future of digital and mobile shopping experiences using augmented, virtual and configurable technology.
The Foundation of a Seamless Experience
Most of us have become used to product configurators, enabling consumers to visualize products in different colors and with different trim choices. But few of us understand the complexity behind these retail tools. No matter the experience being created, it all starts with the data created in the 3D model. Using 3DEXCITES’s DELTAGEN, data from CAD systems can be brought to life in real-time and in outstanding visual quality. This enables the creation of print images, movies, animations and assets that can be used for everything from mobile devices to interactive product configurators, eliminating the need for physical prototypes.
Complex Car Configuration
On display was Picture Generator, capable of creating marketing images of any General Motors’ vehicle in any trim choice from across the globe. All information is pulled from a global database that contains technically correct CAD data. Basically, every 3D model is split up into 2D layers and grouped by configurations and visibility. Every variant of every component is rendered individually so that later on various layers can be combined into accurate configurations. In General Motors’ case, this generator requires the creation of over 750,000 configurable assets each year. The time involved to create this seems mind-boggling, but once the component is created, updating becomes relatively easy. And, this approach literally provides one model to serve myriad touchpoints providing one source for all graphic creation.
Typical configurators are based upon still images so the customer has a limited view of the product. Much of this is due to the heavyweight data required to interact with a model in 3D, making the applications slow and cumbersome. 3DEXCITE demonstrated its new lightweight 3D configurator, directly accessible through the web via mobile activation. It requires only 5 – 10 seconds to load the 3D model and provides a real-time interactive experience for the user with such high fidelity that it can run on a big screen or on a mobile device.
Displaying life-size vehicles, Ford’s new Configurator is a “powerwall” that lets customers personalize and explore their vehicle of choice in real time. Using a remote control user interface on an iPad, I was able to access life-sized virtual vehicles, experiment with different features, accessories and options with 360-degree navigation capability. While customers interact with this display, Ford can capture this information, helping them to better understand consumer preferences.
Pro-active Customer Engagement
Imagine you are walking by a billboard-sized display at a shopping mall or bus station and an instant message pops up asking you to text a code to a number on your mobile phone. In this demonstration, I was engaged in an interactive texting conversation with the configurator, which led me through customization of my vehicle. Once complete, I received a link to the car I created. At this point, the retailer now has the specifications of my desired vehicle, enabling them to create personalized marketing material to enhance the relationship and progress the sale.
The Hololens Experience: My next venture was into the augmented reality space for shoe shopping. A shelf full of athletic shoes was visible to all, but donning the headset gave me control of the display using a set of physical and verbal cues. I was able to grab a shoe sample and move it around in space and change the model on display; all visible to the people around me. Retail gurus believe the Hololens has the potential to take augmented retail to the next level providing product knowledge, news, reviews, additional content and promotional information directly to the consumer and at the purchase point.
Connecting Print with e-Commerce:
Augmented reality (AR) is bringing life to standard-looking 2D print materials. In this demo area, by scanning the QR code from a postcard with my smartphone, I was led to a downloadable app. As soon as that app opens, that same postcard now becomes a moving picture. By monitoring usage, marketers can track their exposure (based on the number of AR activations), monitor click-throughs and use data to build a profile of their customers.
Virtual Reality Unleashed
Within the 3DEXCITE Gallery, various associates had created their own Virtual Reality(VR) displays. This journey began by donning a pair of VIVE VR goggles … and suddenly I was visually isolated while voice-guided to each of my VR stations. During this truly 3DEXPERIENCE, I entered a stunning underwater world. I picked up a virtual anime’-type creature and tossed it, and watched it descend to depths unspeakable. I saw a never-ending spider web of color that continually spewed out virtual bouncing balls at me that I was determined to catch. And, the most surprising of all – I came face-to-face with an angry dinosaur. The reality of these experiences was almost beyond rational comprehension.
Will all these AR and VR experiences ultimately drive sales? A recent retail study by Walker Sands found that more than half of consumers (55 percent) think virtual reality e-commerce will impact their future buying decisions. The key takeaway is that a variety of customer touchpoints are all created using the same data, providing an efficient re-use of assets to engage the customer and enhance the shopping experience.
