The word “metaverse” has been in the news a lot over the past few months.  The term refers to a virtual world which enables people to interact with each other and with objects remotely.  People are able to do that thanks to virtual reality and augmented reality technology, typically using a virtual reality headset or goggles.

But it’s not just for science fiction.  Surgeons can use augmented reality to conduct surgery on patients halfway around the world.  Or imagine a company that needs to train employees to fix a very large or heavy piece of equipment, say a plane.  Using this technology, the employee no longer has to get to the plane in-person, they can do so remotely and easily access any part of the plane (no ladders or cranes required!).

And there are applications in the consumer world.  The technology has been around for a while to enable people to see what furniture might look like in their own homes – but it is now easier to use than ever.  For example, Pinterest is introducing a feature that will allow shoppers to virtually place items in their home and then purchase directly from the retailer. 

Snapchat has introduced Shopping Lenses, which combine product catalogs with augmented reality, so customers can easily visualize products and try them on.  Before launching the feature widely, they beta-tested it with Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics, both of which saw great success. For Ulta, it generated $6 million in sales and 30 million product try-ons during a two-week period; MAC’s shopping lens, meanwhile, racked up 1.3 million try-ons and saw a 17x jump in sales among women and an increase of nine times in purchase intent.

Those results would seem to indicate that it can be risky for companies to ignore the metaverse if they want to remain competitive.  Are there ways your customers, employees or stakeholders could benefit from virtual reality or augmented reality?  Consider a design thinking process to look at how stakeholders work currently and opportunities for improvement.  Email me at info at bureauwest.com.

Sources: PHYGITAL RETAIL: the convergence of physical and digital shopping, Cassandra Daily, 2/8/2022; Introducing Catalog-Powered AR Shopping Lenses, Snapchat, 1/26/22; The metaverse is a new word for an old idea, MIT Technology Review, 2/8/22