Virtual Reality Headset "Oculus Rift" Reveals the Potential of the Virtual Supermarket
We’ve seen some retailers step up their efforts to enhance their presence online by delivering fresh produce straight to consumers at home, but this new technology is taking things one step further.
Oculus Rift, a set of virtual-reality goggles, is said to provide consumers with a more immersive virtual experience like never before. In the demo, seen below, we can see the potential this technology has for creating a near identical virtual supermarket. Take a look at Tesco, for example…
The video, from ad agency Figure Digital, claims that retailers could “change consumer behavior with virtual reality” and “create a virtual world to communicate your brand’s message.” These seem to be benefits that your ordinary e-commerce website wouldn’t be able to provide on its own.
To put it simply, what makes Oculus Rift so special is that the headset is able to track your head’s movement, allowing you to look around and interact with the virtual world much like you would in real life. The screen creates a high resolution 3-D image, giving the world depth and adding a bit more “reality” to this virtual simulation. Added together, the end result is a sensation unlike any other.
While the Oculus Rift was developed primarily for video games, the potential this technology has to create a virtual supermarket where you can pick out your items from the comfort of your home is immense. Sure, while you could always just keep using a mouse/keyboard, or just simply take a stroll to your nearby supermarket, who wouldn’t want to explore a virtual supermarket at least once?
