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BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Walmart this week introduced two augmented reality (AR) features on the Walmart app designed to elevate the shopping experience by providing relevant information to customers regardless of where they shop.
Details were unveiled in a Walmart blog post, which noted that the first AR feature – “view in your space” — allows shoppers to visualize furniture and home décor items in rooms within their homes.
Walmart will initially make 300 products available for viewing. Rollout on Walmart’s i0S app is set for next month, with Android and mobile web versions to follow.
Walmart said that the “view in your space” feature was extensively tested with customers and that feedback was “overwhelmingly positive.” Users can access the feature by clicking on banners in the Walmart app. They will then be walked through how to connect the camera on their device to visualize an item and to check if the item will fit in the intended space.
The feature includes haptic feedback that emits vibrations as the user moves items around, preventing them from placing the image beyond the boundaries of their rooms.
The blog post said the second AR feature is in development and is being designed to allow associates and customers to point their phone cameras at store shelves and get products based on personal preferences.
“You’ll never look at the store shelf in the same way again,” said the post’s authors, Brock McKeel, senior site experience, Walmart eCommerce, and Cherly Ainoa, senior vice president, new businesses and emerging tech, Walmart Global Tech.
“Imagine you’re a customer who is gluten-free. Using the AR in-store tool, you’ll be able to use your phone to read food ingredients quickly and easily identify gluten-free products,” wrote McKeel and Ainoa. “Coupons are another future use case. For example, customers will also be able to scan store shelves to see which items are on rollback, clearance or part of a rewards program. Imagine the possibilities! Perhaps you could scan to see which items are on rollback or receive instant coupons.”
