VR SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

The future is digital. And digital is bringing a new level of engagement and e-commerce experience.

The client gave us the challenge of creating a VR e-commerce application that would allow customers to make real purchases in virtual reality. Virtualization of purchases and VR e-commerce experience is a solution that currently the most recognized brands implement in their services nowadays. Now we can take the product into our hands with help of our virtual controllers, see it on a 1:1 scale, and try it in the chosen environment.

Client

NDA

Sector

FMCG

Retail

Services

3D modeling

VR

Technology

HTC Vive

Unreal Engine

Visual results video

Business value

The client was well aware that the future of shopping belongs to technology. VR and AR are the natural evolution of e-commerce. With the growing popularity of new technologies, it is worth implementing or testing their practical applications in our business.

Goals of the project:

Market leader status in the context of using VR in trade.
Research & development: market research and conclusions regarding the direction of development.

Challenge

The new vision of e-commerce

The client wanted a VR e-commerce application that would allow the customer to make real purchases in virtual reality. The customer can test the use of selected products in an environment where they could really use them, check their parameters and view them in the smallest details.

The question is how to make an e-commerce experience (online products or services) a substitute for a real shopping experience. At the moment, the only thing we can do is look at the pictures, read the parameters and, based on this informations, make a decision about the purchase. But the future looks quite different. Virtualization of purchases + VR e-commerce experience is the solution that the most recognizable brands implement to their services nowadays.

It is not just about the possibility of building a new engagement with the client. Now we can take the product we are interested in with the help of our virtual controllers, see it on a 1:1 scale, and even try it in the chosen environment.

Process and project scope

Scope

Imagine that you are sitting on a boat or on the shore of a lake and testing different types of rods that you can actually use to catch a fish. Or you can trim the hedge or cut trees in the orchard with several types of chainsaws. Then you can pick something and buy it via VR store.

It sounds like science fiction, but it is an innovative purchasing VR e-commerce platform that allows you to order items that you like, which you tested in virtual reality and know that in the real world their performance will be almost identical. That’s how it works.

Process

The project lasted for six months and was run in Scrum from the very beginning. Each sprint lasted two weeks.

Our team of programmers and graphic designers was part of an international team of people responsible for the entire VR e-commerce production.

Collaboration

Based on the provided materials and product specifications, we modeled items that can be purchased in the client’s store. Items have been modeled in the smallest details and the appropriate scale, so if the customer in a VR e-commerce experience will take them in his hand, their size will correspond to the actual size of the item.

Next, we created locations with hyperrealistic graphics and all additional objects and weather conditions that the client can freely change while he is in VR. The whole experience is pleasant and engaging. The application includes a guide and elements of gamification.

Technology stack

The app sports photorealistic graphics made in 3ds Max. The application itself, in turn, was developed in Unreal Engine 4. This product was specially designed to run on HTC Vive devices.

Unity - the main tool used by 4Experience