In-store shopping experience enhancement: Designing a physical object-recognition interactive renderer

Abstract

Following the rapid spread of online-shopping services on both internet and smart devices, the traditional way of promoting and trading in physical retail stores has been challenged. To increase sales, retailers have spent an enormous amount of resources to maintain the attractions of ‘traditional’ physical store in a digital shopping behaviour dominated world. Unfortunately, the outcome leaves much to be desired. This study discusses the need of such hybrid-shopping style through an integrated process of customer investigation, observation and user testing. This paper using footwear shopping as a case study. The authors proposed an inventive installation to re-strengthen the inter-connections among customers, products and retailers using physical object recognition and 3D projection mapping technologies. This interactive installation allows customers to personalize their preferences through manipulating the physical products with Augmented Reality (AR) rendering effects. Furthermore, this system also provides an alternative solution to reform the product-promotion and production progress. This design can be applied to the promotion of many other kind of products.