System 1 Research launches a VR testing tool for shopping

You’re pushing a grocery cart down an aisle in Walmart, and you pause to grab and toss in a bag of candy.

Just another day at the store, except it’s in a new Virtual Reality Shopper recently launched by System 1 Research.

The research arm of the London-based marketing firm System 1 Group, System 1 Research conducts behavioral and other research for brands. Earlier this year, it undertook a pilot project for several brands — one of which was Hershey’s — to build some grocery aisles that resembled a typical Walmart.

The virtual reality platform, designed to test shopping choices, is now available for other clients, System 1 Research Managing Director Gabriel Aleixo told me. It was developed on the Unity gaming engine by Los Angeles-based software development shop SciFutures and employs the HTC Vive VR headset.

Here’s a sample video clip inside the headset:

[Read the full article on MarTech Today.]

About The Author

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.