Extended-reality (XR) like digital overlays, 3D web design, and gamified experiences are already improving customer engagement. But we’re only at the beginning.
Extended-reality like digital overlays, 3D web design, and gamified experiences are already improving customer engagement. But we’re only at the beginning. It wasn’t long ago that XR seemed like a sci-fi dream.
The term spans augmented reality which overlays digital information onto the real world, all-encompassing virtual reality worlds, and mixed reality blends of both. But as anyone who’s seen a pair of virtual bunny ears on a social media filter can attest, XR has quickly become a normal part of online life. Younger consumers have been particularly quick to accept XR, and they have an appetite for more immersive experiences. 90% of Gen Z and Alpha play video games – a cohort projected to account for nearly all spending growth by 2035. Research by Deloitte suggests these players see little distinction between online and real life, and are enthusiastic about integrating them. Thankfully for businesses, the ability to build fully realized virtual worlds to cater for this demand is increasingly within reach – and it will fundamentally alter the way consumers interact with brands. Immersion today Consumers today are most likely to encounter XR while shopping online. The same AR technology that powers Snapchat filters has also enabled ‘virtual fits’ that overlay your choice of, for example, glasses onto your face, so you can see what they would look like on you. Similarly, many furniture retailers allow you to create a 3D model of your customized choice of sofa that you can digitally place in your living room, to ensure it fits your décor. Immersive tech companies like Infinite Reality are building virtual words that enhance the ecommerce experience. The results are undeniable. One study by Snap and Deloitte Digital found that virtual try-ons resulted in a 94% higher conversion rate, and up to 66% lower return rates. In another Deloitte survey, 40% of consumers said they would be willing to pay more for a product if they could test it with AR before purchase. The comfort with, and demand for, AR shopping intensifies when looking at Gen Z. 92% say they’re interested in AR shopping experiences. And while virtual fits may feel revolutionary now, the future of immersive tech will soon make this look primitive by comparison. Virtual worlds 40% of Gen Z and millennials say they socialize more in video games than in the physical world. It’s another statistic that brands are paying attention to when considering their digital strategies. Immersive technology companies like Infinite Reality are providing the tools to cater to the trend for online socialization and comfort with immersive virtual environments. iR is already enabling its clients to build social and ecommerce websites where site visitors are able to explore spatial, 3D environments and objects, express themselves via digital avatars, and converse over audio, text, and video. “Next-gen customers are growing up with Roblox and Fortnite, and they’re expecting to engage with brands through similar interactive experiences,” says Rachel Jacobson, President of Global Business Ventures and Partnerships at Infinite Reality. 40% of Gen Z and millennials say they socialize more in video games than in the physical world. “Infinite Reality’s immersive technology and services are designed to help our partners drive deeper engagement, access nuanced and actionable data, and ultimately drive optimization of key business metrics such as revenue.” The company currently has two offerings: iR Studio and iR Enterprise. The former is a self-service SaaS tool that allows brands and creators to design and deploy their own 3D websites, and connect them to Shopify. The latter is a full-service solution for brands who wish to tap end-to-end design, development, and management of bespoke immersive projects from apps, to websites to digital twins and more. Infinite Reality has already demonstrated how brands can use fully realized immersive environments to create more engaging online experiences for consumers, such as its Vodafone-partnered virtual showroom. The Vodafone showroom invited tech enthusiasts to customize products and access an extensive content library. And a recently inked five-year strategic partnership agreement with Google promises to bring these digital environments even more vividly to life, by granting iR access to the search giant’s cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities and giving a boost to the virtual worlds Infinite Reality can achieve. Immersion tomorrow Infinite Reality says that the partnership will enable brands to create browser-based virtual worlds that are easily accessed on any devices and can harmoniously live alongside existing apps and websites. Projected uses range from immersive shopping environments with 3D product modelling and AI sales agents to interactive classes and virtual attendance of sporting events, using digital twins of physical venues and stadiums – with the possibility of virtual meet-and-greets. Early glimpses of immersive tech’s commercial possibilities include the public debut of the first speech-to-speech AI avatar sales associate for the Apple Vision Pro as part of the VR Nissan showroom displayed at GITEX Global 2024 in Dubai, where the AI offered a complete, interactive tour of a vehicle to prospective buyers. Cycling fans, meanwhile, were able to attend the Union Cycliste Internationale Track Champions League from around the world in a virtual environment that enabled spectators to watch from any angle, access real-time data, meet the athletes – and meet each other. Extending reality Experiences like these will only become more common as the technology matures and becomes more accessible – something the Google Cloud/iR partnership is bound to accelerate. “The global immersive technology market will be a $936 billion opportunity by 2030,” says Jacobson. “These types of virtual worlds are not just the future, they are the present reality that is reshaping how we interact.” As brands embrace XR, Jacobson believes they will learn that “this is not just a new marketing channel, it is a reimagining of entire business models.” In the process, brands will be able to foster closer connections with their customers – wherever they are in the world, and wherever they feel most comfortable.
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