AUGMENTED ENGAGEMENT: TRANSFORMING PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS IN DIRECT SELLING THROUGH VR AND AR TECHNOLOGIES

Povzetek

The incorporation of Immersive Tech such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is transforming the field of direct sales which in turn is we see it play out in novel ways to present and try products. We see today’s mainstay of product displays which revolve around physical samples and sales talk to be very much limited in what they do for customer engagement, scale, and personalization. This study we put forth a new model we call the Augmented Engagement System (AES) which we put forward as a way to improve the interaction and results of product demos through immersive visual and smart engagement tracking. We are putting forth a hybrid VR AR approach which allows customers to see products in realistic settings, to play with them virtually and to see how they work before they buy. At the core of AES, we have computer vision, spatial mapping and behavior analysis which is what makes the system able to change in real time to what the user is doing like where they are looking, what they are doing with their hands and what their emotional responses are. We score engagement in real time and use that to give out personal feedback and adjust demos. We built it out using Unity3D, ARCore, and Oculus SDK which we integrated with machine learning for emotion recognition. In our testing with 150 users, we saw great results in terms of increased user engagement, better product understanding and higher purchase intent as compared to what we see in traditional demo methods. Also, we found out that immersive demos create a trust between the consumer and the product which in turn makes for a more convincing and memorable experience. We also note that our system is very scalable and adaptable to different product categories, which in turn reduces our dependency on physical inventory and at the same time enhances digital marketing strategies. As a whole this research looks at how VR and AR tech can change direct sales into a more interactive, data based and consumer focused experience which we put forth as a new standard for product engagement in the digital age.