To capture the all-around image, Hilfiger worked with WeMakeVR, a start-up, which used a special 3-D camera to capture an image with no blind spots. (Click Image To Enlarge)
With its clunky headsets and project names like Oculus and Morpheus, virtual reality has so far been the realm of hard-core gamers and other early adopters of cutting-edge tech.
Now, retailers are jumping for a piece of VR’s promise to immerse its users in virtual 3-D video. (The industry even has a new term for selling through virtual reality: v-commerce.)
Tommy Hilfiger introduces VR headsets in selected stores (Click Image To Enlarge)
Tommy Hilfiger became the first major retailer to make virtual reality a fixture in its stores this week, offering its shoppers a virtual trip, via a Samsung GearVR headset, to the label’s fall fashion show in New York this year.
The virtual reality headsets, which Tommy Hilfiger began renting out at its Fifth Avenue store in New York on Tuesday, give shoppers a three-dimensional, front-row view of the show, held at New York’s Park Avenue Armory.
Tommy Hilfiger introduces VR headsets in selected stores (Click Image To Enlarge)
During a preview, a reporter donned a GearVR and sat a few virtual feet away from models as they strutted down a football-themed runway. Visible above was the cavernous ceiling of the Armory; turning around revealed rows of guests, almost touchable.
To capture the all-around image, Tommy Hilfiger worked with the Netherlands-based start-up WeMakeVR, which filmed the show using a 3-D camera fitted with 14 special lenses. The lenses allow the camera to capture video in 360 degrees both vertically and horizontally, with no blind spots.
Avinash Changa, WeMakeVR’s chief executive, is reflected on the glass of the firm's Falcon virtual reality device (Click Image To Enlarge)
Daniel Grieder, Tommy Hilfiger’s chief executive, said the virtual reality headsets would allow shoppers who might never attend a fashion show to view and shop the season’s runway styles. He also said the headsets, which will be installed in the brand’s biggest flagship stores in the United States and Europe, would inject Tommy Hilfiger locations with an element of entertainment.
That is vital to brick-and-mortar stores as they fight to stay relevant in an increasingly digital world, he said.
Mr. Grieder said.
“These days, you can’t just wait for people to come into the store and try on your jackets. You have to provide entertainment. It’s not about turnover by square foot anymore. It’s about surprise by square foot, or newness.”
'These days, you can’t just wait for people to come into the store and try on your jackets. You have to provide entertainment," said Daniel Grieder, chief executive of Tommy Hilfiger. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Tommy Hilfiger, which had sales of $6.7 billion in 2014 and is owned by PVH Corp, is one of many retailers exploring virtual reality as a sales tool as they compete with online sellers for shoppers’ attention. But actual adoption of the technology in stores has been slow, as headset makers iron out kinks and bring consumer models to the market.
Next month, Samsung is set to release the consumer version of its GearVR, which uses a smartphone as its processor and display. Facebook’s Oculus VR is expected to begin widely selling a VR headset next year. Sony will ship its own virtual reality headset for its PlayStation 4 console, known as Project Morpheus, during the first half of next year.
But there are still plenty of reasons to question whether virtual reality, promoted for decades as the next big thing, will finally take off in gaming or in retail. Reducing the discomfort that virtual reality can cause for some people, and downsizing the unwieldy headsets, are some remaining challenges.
Virtual reality advocates are quick to distance the technology from other fads that have since fizzled out.
Avinash Changa, WeMakeVR’s chief executive, said.
“Cinema in 3-D was a trick, a gimmick. But VR can be relevant. We’re applying the technology beyond the gimmick.”
COMMENTARY: The new Samsung GearVR headset technology launched on October 20, 2015 at the Tommy Hilfiger store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, followed by several addition locations including London, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Florence, Zurich, and Moscow. Shoppers will receive an immersive encounter.
The idea is to create the impression that one is sitting in the front row of Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory at show time on February 16, 2015, which is when the collection originally premiered. The experience will offer users an unhindered view of the runway and backstage—a section typically cordoned off from outsiders.
The installation lives in-store in a dedicated area that reflects the American football theme of the show alongside the Hilfiger Collection designs, which consumers can purchase immediately. The platform is also launching at wholesale with Selfridges, London’s iconic department store.
Daniel Grieder, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger. said.
“We are driven by a vision to exceed consumer expectations, inspire, and offer experiences they never thought possible. We’re using virtual reality to open the doors to a unique part of our world, directly connecting the consumers in our retail space with one of our largest brand events.”
The showcase will be available on London’s Brompton Road and Regent Street; at Amsterdam’s P.C. Hooftstraat; Dusseldorf’s Schadowstrasse; Milan’s Piazza Guglielmo Oberdan; Florence’s Piazza degli Antinori; Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse; Paris’s Boulevard des Capucines and Champs-Elysees; and Moscow’s Kuznetsky Most.
Courtesy of an article dated October 20, 2015 appearing in New York Times and an article dated October 20, 2015 appearing in World Branding Forum
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