A future that will change dramatically with AR / VR!

A future that will change dramatically with AR / VR!

Currently, in the EC market, which is undergoing major changes around the world, development competition using AR and VR is intensifying. All future purchasing businesses will change to services that can be purchased after recognizing the image with AR or VR.

How will the store change with MR? Alibaba's fascinating future shopping experience

In August of this year, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group announced the shopping content "Taobao Buy". It is a function that allows you to experience an interactive shopping experience using Microsoft's MR device HoloLens.

This demo experience was unveiled at the Taobao Maker's Festival in Hangzhou, China last month.

In shopping using MR, you can actually reproduce the products in the online store as 3DCG models and check them at hand. It is a mechanism that allows you to check the product as if it were there before purchasing. Information such as product features, buyer ratings, and reviews is also displayed on a digital display floating in space.

Shopping by displaying CG of products in space Alibaba is developing AR application | Mogura VR

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35 HoloLens are available at Taobao Maker ’s Festival. It is said that a huge exhibition of 300 square meters was held and more than 1,500 people experienced it in four days.

The expanding world of books and moving toys
It is a state of the demo experience released in the video. Standing in front of the book exhibition, the world of books emerges in digital images. It also displays information such as prices and reviews about the book. If you select "ADD TO CART", the product will be placed in the cart that appears on the right side of the screen, and you can purchase it on the spot.

In the painting exhibition, the person inside comes out and laughs.

When you hold your hand over a model car at the game or toy department

A digital car will appear.

The car runs around the store and shows a fun scene like a game.

In the fashion corner, you can see more than just textual information such as prices. A person with the same coordination as the mannequin appears, and you can check the image of what it looks like when it moves. You can also add it to your online cart and purchase it on the spot.

Is it the aim to increase fans with a fun consumption experience?
The demo experience suggests that Alibaba is using MRs to "make shopping more enjoyable for consumers." You can also check the price and review information on the 2D PC screen. However, the experience of moving toys and animations coming out of books is unique to MR.

The company's efforts to provide an AR experience for coffee at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Shanghai store in partnership with Starbucks are similar. It is set up so that you can experience AR in various places in the store, and you can enjoy animations such as the story from the cultivation of beans to the completion of a cup of coffee and the roasting method.

This gimmick does not make coffee purchases convenient, but it is similar to shopping with MRs in that visiting the store is a fun experience and makes you want to visit the store again.

Starbucks x Alibaba launches AR experience at Shanghai store | Mogura VR

MoguraVR

Similarly, Psychic VR Lab in Japan, which developed a service "chloma x STYLY HMD collection" that uses HoloLens to check and purchase clothes in detail, mentioned the following regarding MR shopping. "(This service using HoloLens) is characterized by the fact that users can actually experience the world view of the brand, so it is easy to convey the brand image and it tends to lead to fanning."

In this way, Alibaba's MR shopping is also thought to have the aim of increasing the number of fans by letting them experience the company's world view. Perhaps you are portraying an exciting experience with MRs as a future shopping image to retain users in the highly competitive e-commerce market.