Tropes

R_www.usatoday.com_tech_ 2015 01801.txt.txt

#Virtual reality comes into the store VENICE BEACH, Calif. elcome to this reality-a store where you can buy shoes, eyewear and coffee, and also take a 360 degree immersive video trip to Peru. Shoppers at Toms flagship store here can don Samsung's Gear VR virtual reality goggles, which are tapped into a Samsung phone in what believed to be one of the first consumer retail VR experiences. Virtual reality is a huge buzzword in the Hollywood and gaming communities, as folks look to eye-popping photography directly to your eyes to as the next big thing, and a way to get the mobile generation entranced. Facebook bought tech start-up Oculus, which works with Samsung on the Gear VR system, for $2 billion in 2014. Toms specializes in one to one marketing--buy a products from Toms and it donates to people in need. The top request from customers has always been to o on a giving trip, "says Toms founder Blake Mycoskie. ow, with VR, we can take them to Peru...and when they take the headset off, your whole world is now upside down. he cost for the project wasn cheap. He spent about $250, 000 to produce the four minute film, shot on a host of cameras that saw frontwards, sideways and backwards, and $1, 000 each for the Gear VR setups. The bigger cost is actually staffing, he says, to walk customers through the experience and talk to them afterwards. So far, VR is playing well with his customers.""Awesome,"says Brad Smith, visiting from Sacramento.""I felt like I was there. When one of the kids waved, I wanted to wave back.""Dan Cegla, in from Portland, Oregon, said the VR gave him a different experience than 2d, "which you experience as a detached outsider. This makes you feel more connected.""Toms has 5 retail stores, where the VR is set up, plus locations in outlets like Whole Foods, Nordstrom and Journeys. There, Toms plans to bring the VR units periodically. The company is based near Venice Beach in the Marina del rey area of Los angeles. Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies says VR will be acquired an taste for retailers until the price comes down. lot of major brands will look into it, but until units are in the $100-$200 range, it won be viable for them, he says. Few retailers have signed on so far although Bajarin notes that Patron Tequila recently used VR to show its distillery in Mexico, and hopes to bring it to stores and bars. For Mycoskie, he likes having the market virtually to himself and cites a comment from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that VR will potentially be as disruptive as the smartphone. We have an experience that is so visceral and so intense that customers aren having with our competitors, he says. he secret will come out. But I like having a first mover advantage right now. f

< Back - Next >