Virtual Reality for Retail Gabriele Guidi and Laura L. Micoli Dept. INDACO Politecnico of Milano Milan, Italy g.guidi@ieee.org, laura.micoli@polimi.it, Cesare Casagrande and Luciano Ghezzi Beiersdorf Italia S.p.A. Milan, Italy Cesare.Casagrande, Luciano.Ghezzi @Beiersdorf.com Abstract— In this paper an experiment of designing an existing retail area though virtual models is presented. The capability of interaction between the designer and the virtual models allows to verify the relationship between the building, the furniture and the products on the shelves, through a realistic perception of the virtualized Point of Sale. For this purpose a specific 3D modeling pipeline has been developed for surveying, 3D modeling, texture mapping, and visualizing large commercial environment (200 to 2000 square meters). This approach allows to compress the timing of design and testing in such kind of projects. The consequently reduced time-to-market involves significant advantages for the whole design process. Keywords-3D acquisition, 3D modeling, virtual reality, display project evaluation, virtual retail. I. INTRODUCTION Virtual models are nowadays used for several different applications ranging from industrial simulation to Cultural Heritage documentation. Recently, some novel application areas have started to be developed, such as VR for retail support. The support can be intended for: a) design and management of Point Of Sales (POS); b) market research and c) virtual shops; d) product configuration. Looking at the design of shops layout and its implementation as a production process involving wide selling areas, cumbersome furniture, and a huge number of small products, it can be easily figured out that converting all this stuff in a virtual domain can dramatically reduce the time needed for finalizing a shop setup hypothesis (Time-to-Market), with a corresponding cost reduction. In particular the layout definition of the POS that can be set up differently in order to possibly highlight some goods categories or specific brands. For this specific purpose a lack of instruments and methodologies emerges. In this paper an application of 3D modeling and Virtual Reality (VR) for interactively redesigning some commercial display is described. The process involves a first 3D survey of the physical space and all its contents to be modeled. Digital 3D models usable in a VR environment, especially when displayed at their actual scale, allow to show different design proposals and their variants in real-time. This operating approach allows to accelerate the decisional processes and to reduce the Time-To-Market. The experimental activities presented in this paper have been carried out with the Italian branch of the multinational company Beiersdorf, one of the world leaders for the body care products. Hereafter the word “producer” will indicate the first manufacturer of the goods sold on the market, “retailer” the subject that buy large amounts of products from the producers and sell them the single end-user. The latter is also indicated in the text as “shopper”. II. VIRTUAL TOOLS FOR COMMERCE: STATE OF THE ART A. Tools for POS design and management The definition of the shell layout (i.e. planograms) is a crucial step of the selling process, because it has a fundamental influence in the buyer choices. In this field we can find a broad range of software for planograms definition. They allows to: locate the goods in optimal position by the commercial and visual point of view; communicate to POS personnel the needed goods positioning on the shelf; easily manage products inventory; optimize the available display areas; effectively communicate different brands identities. The simpler software allow to visualize shelves subdivision and goods positioning on a bi-dimensional worksheet. In the last 15 years, thanks to hardware and software development, those instruments have been progressively enriched in terms of features and effectiveness. Currently, a few service companies offer packages for 3D management and visualization of planograms [7]. The planogram management system become the interface between inputs such as financial and management data and different outputs like graphic and alphanumeric display schemas or spatial and financial analysis reports. The most advanced applications involve the management of the POS space through its 3D replica into a virtual environment, and the availability of a set of tools for arranging the products on each shelf, and the display furniture into the available exhibition area. For example “Galleria RTS Ltd.”, which develops and delivers automated merchandising software solutions to retailers and manufacturers, produces systems for managing planograms in virtual stores both from a single user or, concurrently, working remotely with different operators [8]. B. Tools for market research Nowadays, in addition to the aforementioned applications for space management in selling areas, a few tools for market research based on 3D models are arising. Since 2000 a few companies have proposed SW tools for creating 3D environments capable to be navigated in real-time by consumers panels. Acting in such simulated retail environment, these test users generate information useful for both producers 978-1-4244-9026-4/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE - 285 -