Amazon continues to branch out with Augmented Reality

By Matthew Griffin Virtual World 21st October 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

There are pros and cons to online and offline shopping, and increasingly retailers, particularly Amazon, are trying to find the happy ground between the two using new technologies like drones and new, immersive reality technologies.

According to sources Amazon’s retail plans could extend well beyond books and groceries, and sources say that the internet retail giant is “exploring” the possibility of appliance and furniture stores with a technological twist that would allow customers to use Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to see how items would look in their own home before they bought them, making it easier to pull the trigger on that new grill or sofa. And there’s a chance that Amazon might challenge some of its tech rivals more directly in retail, too.

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Reportedly, Amazon is mulling an electronics store that would be similar in concept to Apple’s shops, and while Amazon’s bookstores already carry some of its devices, these would, naturally, have a “heavy emphasis” on hardware and services like Echo speakers and Prime Video.

The sources were also quick to point out that talking about stores isn’t the same as definitive plans, and that there’s a chance that Amazon will scrap the ideas if they prove to be unworkable, but nonetheless as new AR and VR technologies help online retailers increasingly blur the boundaries between the digital and the physical world Amazon’s new alleged moves could, if nothing else, help to further erode your reasons to travel down to the shops to check out that sofa or washing machine…

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In Amazons world, one that’s filled with literally tens of thousands of small iterative innovations and tweaks that are all designed to, bit by bit, chip away at their competitors competitive advantage, improve the customer experience and improve their overall operational efficiency and margins, such as their drive to become the world’s first fully autonomous fulfilment company, this could just be another small step on Amazon’s path to complete world domination.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.