VIRTUAL SHELF

Hochland SE is a family-owned business based in Heimenkirch in Bavaria, Germany. From its very beginning in 1927, the company has concentrated exclusively on the production, refinement and sales of cheese. Hochland is one of the largest manufacturers and refiners of cheese in Europe.

Client

Hochland

Sector

FMCG

Retail

Services

VR training app

3D modeling

Technology

Razer Hydra / Oculus Rift

Unity 3D

Challenge

Provide an ace in the hole for the VR sales training program

The client provides training for many new sales representatives every year. However, the training is so expensive that it can be organised only once a year, which is not sufficient. The aim of the project was to create a solution that would make it possible to overcome these restrictions.

The client needed VR sales training without the need to gather staff from all over the country in one place on the same day. It was also important for them to be able to periodically verify the skills of individual employees, so that individual training paths could be planned for them.

Another objective was to significantly reduce the costs of training in the following years. The client also cared about the possibility of introducing changes to the training and increasing its effectiveness by maximising the realism of the simulated store shelf.

Process and project scope

Scope

As part of the solution we developed, the user was to be able to choose a shelf and its initial condition. Then, the user could manually change the shelf using products available in the basket. Subsequently, the system evaluated the results of the work and issued an assessment, together with an indication of areas for improvement.

Process

This was not a typical agile project, as there was no possibility of frequent contact with the management team responsible for training. We held only two meetings to present the prototype and listen to feedback. Our team had to implement the changes and provide a corrected, ready-made VR sales training. The entire work took 3 months.

Collaboration

Our Virtual Reality Studio was responsible for designing and producing the entire proof of concept as a turnkey project. The client provided guidelines for the VR sales training of employees, expecting to get a ready-to-use solution, which was to be designed entirely by 4Experience

Business value

Continuous training of employees and verification of their knowledge with a central, cloud-based monitoring point

Thanks to the solution we provided, the client no longer had to organize annual face-to-face training, and therefore incur costs, pay expensive consultants, cover the costs of accommodation and organize an artificial store shelf. Competence upgrading can now be carried out continuously and on-demand and the training process is adapted both temporarily and quantitatively to the individual learner.

The original investment was expected to pay for itself within 24 months, as the cost of providing the VR sales training amounted to the cost of 2 physical training courses.

A virtual shelf is a tool created outright to meet the needs of the FMCG market. The individual who undergoes the VR sales training receives instant results and feedback about his or her work progress. By wearing virtual goggles and using manipulators, the individual is able to put himself/herself in the role of a customer and evaluate current product display from the customer’s perspective.

The biggest advantages of our tool include:

Virtual Reality – exact projection of product selling and buying space as well as an assortment of goods & VR Learning – instant feedback after completion of product arrangement tasks.
Motion Capture and Gesture Control – position monitoring of the trainee in relation to the store counter.
The Opportunity to have hands-on experience by manipulating the products using one’s own hands.

Technology stack

The VR land of milk and honey

The app was specially designed for the Hydra Razer motion controller. The entire software development was done with the Unity 3D engine. Apart from that, we used photo scanned models of products and the movements were designed with Motion Capture and Gesture Control technologies.