IBM Labs Create Augmented Reality App For Shopping

Shops seem to be the next best destination for innovation. If Carnegie Mellon University's #-Link-Snipped-# did not catch you attention, this certainly will. IBM Labs has unveiled an augmented reality mobile shopping app. What it does is really handy and useful. A customer can walk in the store with this app downloaded on his/her smartphone or tablet. Once the customer registers the identity by telephone number or some loyalty cards, a profile of preferences will be created. This app makes sure that your shopping experience becomes personal and cut out to cater each of your needs - be it related to diet or religion.

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So, finding the perfect sugar-free, local grown ingredient becomes hassle-free and fast. Using your smartphone's video camera and IBM's image processing techniques, the app will recognize products according to shapes, colors etc. Whereas the shop owner's back-end powered by IBM Smarter Commerce software will quickly deliver the information you need on your phone.

[spoiler title="Click to Open Press Release From IBM Labs" open="0" style="2"]

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., July 2, 2012 – IBM (NYSE: IBM) Research scientists today unveiled a first-of-a-kind augmented reality mobile shopping app that will make it possible for consumers to pan store shelves and receive personalized product information, recommendations and coupons while they browse shopping aisles.

Upon entering a store, consumers download the app on their smart phone or tablet, register, and create a profile of features that matter to them - from product ingredients that could trigger an allergy, to whether packaging is biodegradable. When they point their device's video camera at merchandise, the app will instantly recognize products and, via augmented reality technology, overlay digital details over the images - such as ingredients, price, reviews and discounts that apply that day. If consumers opt in, information from their social networks can be integrated into the information stream. For instance, if a friend had reviewed or made a comment about a product they're looking at, they'll see it.

Using IBM's prototype app, shoppers looking for breakfast cereal could specify they want a brand low in sugar, highly rated by consumers - and on sale. As a shopper pans the mobile device's camera across a shelf of cereal boxes, the augmented shopping app reveals which cereals meet the criteria and provides a same-day coupon to entice consumers to make a purchase.

"In the age of social media, consumer expectations are soaring and people want information and advice about the products they're going to buy," said Sima Nadler, Retail Lead, IBM Research. "By closing the gap between the online and in-store shopping experience, marketers can appeal to the individual needs of consumers and keep them coming back."

The app, being developed by IBM's Research lab in Haifa, Israel, addresses the fundamental gap between the wealth of readily available product details on the Web that in-store shoppers don't have access to – despite the fact that in-store shopping accounts for more than 92% of the retail volume, according to Forrester Research(1).

Retailers will be able to use the app to build in-store traffic by connecting with individual consumers, turning marketing into a welcomed service that is not intrusive. The app can make it easier for retailers to understand consumer likes and dislikes and offer related products in other aisles, such as bananas or milk, to accompany a cereal purchase. It could also make loyalty points and digital coupons become more convenient for shoppers, freeing them from the hassle of searching for discounts.

How it Works

Upon entering a participating store, consumers opt-in to the service by downloading the augmented reality mobile app to their smart phone or tablet. Once they register, identified by either their telephone number or their loyalty cards, they create or update a profile of preferences. This simple, one-time setting will allow shoppers to receive personalized service to address dietary needs, pricing, environmental or religious preferences that is instant generated – like low-salt, sugar-free, local grown, kosher food, etc. The video camera on the mobile device will be able to recognize products according to shapes, colors and other features using advanced image processing technologies. The retailer's back-end computer system, powered by IBM Smarter Commerce software, will deliver information to the mobile device, where advanced augmented reality technologies overlay the information on the product images.

Beyond helping consumers, this new app is expected to bring great value to retailers, serving as a natural platform for them to interact with their customers at the point when purchasing decisions are made. Aside from the ability to suggest up-sell and cross-sell offers in the store itself, retailers will have the opportunity to gain invaluable insights that can help optimize floor plans and product arrangements in their stores.

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Image Credit: #-Link-Snipped-#

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