Even if they are not precursors in the field, where players such as Procter and Gamble or Intel have been using VR technologies for years, Walmart has seriously begun virtual shopping development with Chicago based IRI's solutions.
Store simulations, in which consumers shop in virtual environments in order to provide precious information to retailers and manufacturers, have become a standard tool used in market research. Smaller players, better technology and lower prices, or even features using EKG and brainwave measurements to analyse consumer's reactions while in front of a product on a shelf, are making virtual shopping more and more accessible and money-saving.
Since more or less a year ago, IRI is offering their clients (who don't tend to develop an in-house solution, like P&G does, for example) a wide panel of services. Using software from Vision Critical, they are establishing as one of the leaders in this industry segment. Segment quite promising and profitable, considering their list of clients, the problems CPG have in this period to adapt to the ever-changing environment, and the fact that a cost of a virtual store development can go from $30 thousand up to more than $1 million.
A video demo of a Walmart virtual store can be seen here.
Something like this has already been spotted, several years ago - in an amusement park! And it was a premium attraction, a wonder that not only proved beyond any doubt that God does exist, but convinced you that he just loves going to cinema!
Well, times are (not?) changing. Either all that story about God is a fraud, either they only underestimated his goodness. For one thing is sure : "this" can now be enjoyed in a - simple web browser. In a somewhat different form, that is.
More seriously. yellowBird, a Groningen (Netherlands) based company, has democratized the 360° video playback by publishing a player (built on flash) capable of showing this kind of moving images. Basically, the technology consists of a six-lens camera, like the one featured in Google Street View, used for shooting movies instead of photos. The images (videos, that is) are then stitched to form an all-around panorama view, and the result is stored on a server (with all the hosting, streaming, connections and capacity issues that go along. Another story). The proprietary player, like the one YouTube uses to share videos, is available for embedding the content in your web-page.
Do you know what kind of TV you'll be watching in the (near) future?
Since several days, Cities XL is available for beta testing pre-registrations. In other words, if you want to be a beta tester of the game, go and register and hope you will have the chance to be drawn.
Cities XL is announced to be a new concept of city-building games. And what is supposed to be new is mainly this :
Online 'Planet offer', which introduces for the first time MMO gameplay to the city builder genre
Sophisticated transport system: players can define the number and uses of traffic lanes; while using bridges and tunnels to expand the size of their cities
Realistic representation of the population. Citizens have a profile consisting of age, education and wealth. These profiles will affect what types of services and entertainment the player must make available to the city's inhabitants
Different climates from tropical to desert, Mediterranean to temperate. Topography and terrain affect resource availability and city design
GEMs (Gameplay Extension Modules) allow players to switch their mayor position for CEO seats, from car dealerships to ski resorts, players will find a wide variety of businesses available to them
"Fantastic high-end graphics engine" (judge for yourself from the screenshot!), providing "near photo-realistic quality visuals".
The original post also offers a promo code that will, they say, increase your chances of being selected for beta-testing the game.
Chinese online gaming market registered a growth of 63% in 2008, according to Pearl Research. Further growth is expected, and the market should attain $5.5 billion by 2012 [ Massively ]
In the same register, the Asian virtual goods market (China, Japan, Corea) has been estimated at $5 billion by +8*. The previous year the market value was worth $2.1 billion. [ Virtual Economy Research Network ]
Nintendo announced that shipping of MotionPlus Wiimote in the US will start on June 8th. The device is an add-on for the existing Wiimote with improved sensors, and will provide 1:1 motion [ Engadget ]
Cisco came out with a low cost ($89K) telepresence system. CTS 1300 consists of a 65-inch high definition screen and three mounted high definition cameras, and can support resolutions up to 1080p. [ Telepresence Options ]
Dassault Systemes' 3DViaintroduced a new version (3.0) of Shape. Among the new features of the free software are drawing on curved surfaces, offset and mirror. Check out the video here below.
After two years of occupation, SkyNews is closing down its island in the Second Life and renews its presence by switching to an Immersive Workspaces strategy.
An exhaustive information about CryEngine 3 improvements was compiled by Voodoo Extreme.
Supposing that VR is an unavoidable element of all future technology developments, the company proposes to its customers a deep insight of how healthcare can benefit from virtual reality tools. The scope of the research covers equipment, software, services and education involved in the field, forecasting the market size in the years to come and segmenting it in geographical regions.
This is not the first report of the kind, and it is no surprise that healthcare industry is getting more and more interested in these questions. VR is already widely present its different aspects, raging from surgery and surgical procedures planning to rehabilitation and training. Techniques such as simulation, modeling or visualization being of high value for many activities related to healthcare, the demand can only increase.
Cost of the report - $1000 for a one user licence.
Store simulations, in which consumers shop in virtual environments in order to provide precious information to retailers and manufacturers, have become a standard tool used in market research. Smaller players, better technology and lower prices, or even features using EKG and brainwave measurements to analyse consumer's reactions while in front of a product on a shelf, are making virtual shopping more and more accessible and money-saving.
