Virtual Reality Shopping Environment with Smart Objects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for understanding consumer purchasing decisions, such as market research using questionnaires and focus groups, are expensive and often ineffective due to difficulty in articulating the factors influencing purchasing choices, and virtual reality simulations lack realistic interaction and data collection capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A virtual reality system that generates a shopping environment using smart objects, allowing participants to interact with a virtual shopping environment through touch-sensitive displays and instrumented devices, recording interactions and using eye-tracking to collect data on attention and behavior, which can be used to recreate real-world scenarios and test various product and store layouts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If virtual reality simulations are used to represent real-world shopping environments, then the realism and interactivity of the simulation is improved, but the device complexity and cost of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the real-world shopping environment using 3D modeling and rendering techniques. The virtual store replica includes accurate representations of products, shelving, lighting, and layout, allowing participants to experience a faithful copy of real shopping conditions without the complexity of physical testing infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces physical mechanical interaction systems with virtual interaction mechanisms. Instead of requiring physical store layouts, products, and manual observation, the system uses computer-generated 3D environments with virtual objects that respond to user interactions through software-based mechanisms, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining realism.
2Ease of operation
If touch-sensitive display devices are added to enable direct interaction with smart objects, then the ease of operation and data collection capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the virtual display environment with touch-sensitive input capabilities into an integrated system. The touch-sensitive displays are overlaid with virtual shopping environments, allowing participants to directly interact with smart objects through natural touch gestures while simultaneously providing data collection feedback, combining multiple functions into a unified interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The touch-sensitive display system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it presents the virtual shopping environment, collects interaction data, tracks user behavior, and provides feedback. This multi-functional approach reduces the need for separate devices for each function, thereby managing complexity while enhancing ease of operation and data collection.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention include a virtual reality system that includes an instrumented device used to present a virtual shopping environment to a simulation participant. The participant's interactions with the virtual shopping environment may be used to conduct market research into the consumer decision making process. The virtual shopping environment may include one or more smart objects configured to be responsive to participant interaction. The virtual shopping environment may recreate a real-world shopping environment.