NEWS — SPECIAL REPORT
Car showrooms are
already showcasing virtual vehicles
Samsung Futurescape 2014 showcased technologies that could reintroduce some theatre into the high street travel retail experience. LEE HAYHURST reports
Digital hardware manufacturer Samsung has created a business- to-business division to work with firms so it can develop the products they need to drive bookings.
The firm believes that
technology is something that bricks-and-mortar retailers can exploit to revitalise the theatre of the high street. Speaking to Travel
Weekly at the recent Futurescape event in London, Graham Long, vice-president of Samsung’s enterprise business team, said: “If you look at retail as a whole, the biggest problem is that we are all doing increasing amounts of online research and booking product.
Ritz in central London. The virtual product is built electronically from the manufacturer’s design specifications and the result is something that looks just like the real thing.
“The challenge for retailers is
how to be relevant with their bricks- and-mortar estate”
“So the challenge for retailers
is how to be relevant with their bricks-and-mortar estate.” At Futurescape, Samsung and its
software partners demonstrated several point-of-sale technologies that travel retailers could use.
Virtual showrooms ZeroLight’s virtual showroom technology is already used in car showrooms by Jaguar and Audi. The latter has got rid of all
vehicles in its store opposite The
It means the product is ‘bespokable’ within the limits of what the manufacturer offers, so features such as the colour and wheels can be changed instantly. ZeroLight says the technology has resulted in a marked increase in the uptake of premium features, such as sports wheels, because the customer can visualise exactly how they
would look. The firm has also worked with British Airways on the design of its
premium-class cabins, which allowed the airline to take a virtual tour before any firm decisions were made. ZeroLight says it has also had
interest from cruise companies because the technology would allow people to take a tour of a ship before committing to a holiday. Offering virtual tours of hotels is another potential use for the technology in travel, although it does require a certain consistency of decor and design to keep the complexity to a manageable level.
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travelweekly.co.uk — 17 July 2014
More excitingly, the technology has been developed to work with Oculus Rift 3D virtual reality gaming headgear. Oculus Rift was recently bought
by Facebook, and the technology opens up the prospect of a customer being able to almost touch and feel a product in-store as they make their decision about what to buy.
Touch of class Adidas sports stores feature an interactive touchscreen sales wall, powered by Worldline, which offers customers the chance to research
products before they buy. Graphics, videos and celebrity endorsements are available at the touch of a screen, enabling a store to offer limitless options without having to hold all the stock. The use of large-screen touch-
responsive technology in travel is not new – Microsoft Surface has been trialled in several agencies. But it is likely to become
increasingly prevalent as the technology becomes more sophisticated and agents seek to offer customers the use of gadgets to drive footfall and improve the retail experience.
Shop of future could transform agencies
Here is the duty-free shop of the future – or it could be any type of store. Employing technology
developed by Uberated, shoppers can use wall-mounted Samsung tablets to quickly and easily access professional product reviews for an item they are interested in. In this way, the consumer gets the same ‘at home’ research capability without having to go back and forth via Google to find relevant reviews.
If their choice is endorsed by
the product reviews, as they are in store, the consumer can then order the product.
To date, Uberated has been
developing its technology for the sale of electrical goods, and has not exploited its application in travel retail. However, the technology would
allow retailers to offer more information than is available in brochures, including independent reviews and travel articles.
SPECIAL REPORT
Futuristic agencies are a virtual reality
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