Why the time is ripe for 3D product configurators in VR.

It seems that 2017 was the year of Virtual Reality (VR). New VR headsets and applications (like 3D configurators) were introduced everywhere. Now many interested people are asking themselves whether the rime is ripe for a product configurator in VR.

Is VR really useful for product companies to sell build-to-order products?

Here are some facts that speak for themselves:

• There are a number of companies that are experimenting with VR in sales and that achieve good results depending on the product segment.
• According to some sources there are already considerable sales with VR applications.

Ideas that should be considered:

• Try VR first with first-person scenarios such as a trade fair or a showroom. Both environments are well suited for a dedicated kiosk with VR glasses.
• For a broader marketing benefit you can consider using Smartphone VR. There are more and more Smartphone VR devices (e.g. Samsung Gear VR) on the market than dedicated devices (like Oculus Rift). In addition, there are ways to create a VR-like environment on mobile devices that do not require more than the mobile device. The Fyuse app can be used here as an example.

If your interest is aroused and you have a 3D product configurator, what do you do next? There are currently no technical standards for 3D product configurators, so there will be no VR solutions that adapt to a variety of configurators. This means that either the supplier of the 3D product configurator must offer VR integration or a custom software development project is required.

The good news is that some manufacturers of 3D product configurators offers a VR solution. Axonom is a good example. Other vendors such as Idearoom perform VR integrations on request. I recommend that you contect the vendor of your product configurator as a starting point.

Finally, let me bring in my own speculations. At the moment I believe that the scenarios that have the biggest marketing punch are the personal scenarios: the trade fair and showroom scenarios. Just make sure your target market demographics are open to the technology. If so, you can make a good impression with VR glasses and a high quality image. As a rule of thumb, you can remember that if you can establish the emotional connection with the consumer, pragmatism will follow more easily.