Do you remember the movie “Forrest Gump”? Certainly yes. In it, we can glimpse the extraordinary life of a not very bright boy who, due to various coincidences, appears wherever something important for US history is happening, and by the way he meets the greatest figures of his era - and this is dancing with Elvis Presley, and this is what you can see in the photo with John. F. Kennedy, and this is talking to John Lennon. In addition, all this before the era of the Internet, which made it possible for everyone to know everything about everything and be everywhere in a matter of seconds. Well, now omnipresence is a little less of a feat — especially with virtual reality, so if we haven't been as lucky as Forrest so far, now we can help happiness from the perspective of the couch in the living room.
Entering Wonderland
It's late at night. We sit on our comfortable couch. We just finished watching “Forrest Gump” and decided to take a walk around the store. No problem. We put on special goggles connected to our smartphone that take us to virtual reality and we can already walk between the shelves. Wonderland literally at your fingertips. In the market we will find several White Rabbits that allow us to go through their unusual burrow and take a look at Wonderland, among others Facebook with his Oculus Rift and Samsung and his Gear VR. Mark Zuckerberg's portal in 2014 bought the manufacturer of such goggles for $2 million and immediately announced that the equipment, which was previously intended primarily for gamers, now under the banner of Facebook, will play important roles in several other industries, including retail. Likewise, like the Samsung Gear VR, which in Toms footwear stores carried the customer to Peru. The Californian shoe manufacturer is known for supporting charity — each pair of shoes you buy is an extra pair of shoes for someone in need. Thanks to the goggles, the client was able to contribute to this action almost with his own hand.
From salons to networks
Virtual reality has been pouring into stationary stores for some time now, which quickly sensed that instead of writing out the benefits offered by the product, they can be shown live — to the customer on his own. The customer will not only quickly understand, but will also see with his own eyes and feel what it will be like once he acquires the product. Such glasses appeared in the largest salons of the fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger. The customer donned a Samsung Gear VR headset and landed at a fashion show, where he could see up close how the models gracefully strolled the catwalk in clothes available in the store.
From commerce to e-commerce to v-commerce
Currently, we can get to the virtual reality of trading primarily in some fixed stores, which are like a telephone booth that takes us to the Matrix. Meanwhile, online stores rub their hands even more zealously than their traditional counterparts, because such technology is their natural environment — therefore, surely as soon as VR glasses arrive in our homes, then the matrix phone booth will be replaced to some extent by mobile devices that we always have at hand.
Is it already a reality? Actually, yes, and we're definitely heading in that direction — chasing the White Rabbit right into his magic hole. Best of all, we'll never really catch him, because he's such a fluffy epitome of endless technological advancement—and after all, it's not about catching a bunny, but about chasing him.
