Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and the Expo

The Path to Purchase Institute, in partnership with the newly launched VR/AR Association, will offer a “VR/AR Experience” at this year’s Path to Purchase Expo, Sept. 20-22 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Through a variety of virtual and augmented reality exhibitors and seminars, the Expo will provide attendees with opportunities to learn about these experiences and how they can be leveraged to enhance shopper engagement and influence decision making at retail. Peter Hoyt, CEO of the Path to Purchase Institute, and Nathan Pettyjohn, founder and president of the VR/AR Association and CEO of Aisle411, recently discussed VR/AR and the Expo Experience with Shopper Marketing.How did the collaboration with the VR/AR Association come about?Hoyt: We’ve known Nathan for years. He is a visionary and a very capable entrepreneur. When he told us what he was doing in this space, we knew we could help him. And by doing so, we could add an interesting new facet to the Path to Purchase Expo.What’s the goal of having a VR/AR Experience at Expo?Hoyt: We will make it enormously convenient for our guests and members to explore and learn and gain valuable perspective on both the promise and the limitations of the technology today and in the near future.Pettyjohn: The Experience will allow brands and retailers to easily find, meet and demo some of the best solutions on the CPG and retail market for VR and AR.Why do you think VR/AR is worthy of this attention?Pettyjohn: As consumer behavior shifts to using this technology for preplanning and making purchase decisions, it’s imperative that brands and retailers be there to maintain and grow market share. Now is the time to start making the move in exploring and testing solutions.Hoyt: There is no question in our minds that this technology will impact the shopping experience. The degree to which this will happen is unknowable at this time. But to spend an hour or two learning about it, thinking through how you might employ it for competitive advantage, is an hour or two well spent.Tell us a little about the VR/AR Association.Pettyjohn: The VR/AR global ecosystem is growing fast. Given the different hardware, software and content development options, it is exponentially more complex than even the mobile marketplace, creating a need for a connected global community. The Association accelerates the market and offers better productivity and return on investment for the VR/AR Association member community, bringing better experiences to market.Editor’s note: Shopper Marketing will explore the world of virtual reality and augmented reality as it applies to retail with a feature article in the July issue.

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Futurist Tom Edwards to Keynote at Future Forward

Q&A: The AI Effect