Can’t get out to a Dyson store and want to explore the technology from the comfort of your home? Dyson is offering an interesting and more immersive way to do this through Dyson Demo VR, a lab technology that powers a new virtual store experience.
Using virtual reality (VR), customers can explore and test Dyson products “hands-on” – virtually, at least – with a compatible VR headset. The technology draws on many of the same visualization and simulation technologies that Dyson engineers use to prototype, test, and develop new products and software in the lab. It is accessible through a virtual reality headset with a web3D version available via desktop.
The Dyson Demo VR is the first virtual store of its kind and will be available through the Oculus store starting November 19. The VR experience will iteratively update and improve over time, with phase one including product demonstrations, where customers can trial the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer, Corrale straightener, and Airwrap styler on a variety of hair types, as well as the new Dyson V15 Detect cordless vacuum, which uses laser technology to illuminate the floor to find hidden dust. Additionally, customers will be able to take a look inside each piece of technology to understand more about how the technology works through visual animations and interviews with Dyson engineers. Through home trialing, shoppers can also see how Dyson technology would interact with various features of the home to ensure it’s the right products for your environment. Future releases will include a virtual shopping experience and the ability to speak with a Dyson Expert.
“Dyson Demo VR means that we can now bring our technologies to life for our customers in ways that were previously beyond imagination,” says Sean Newmarch, Dyson E-Commerce Director. “Using the same technologies and tools used within our labs, we can explain better how Dyson machines work and why they make a difference. All of this can be done using our actual design data. We can show people a virtual product operating in a virtual room but using the actual product software – it doesn’t get much more realistic than that.”
The enhanced customer experience will be paired with the newly launched live streamed events on Dyson’s direct websites and 1:1 video demonstrations hosted by Dyson experts so customers can better understand which technology is right for them.
“As engineers, we are concerned with improving things, and that includes how people understand our products,” says James Dyson, Founder and Chief Engineer. “We have been harnessing powerful virtual reality technologies to engineer new products in our labs for many years. Now we are applying those same technologies to re-invent how people explore our products. Our customers increasingly want to buy directly from us, which makes sense, because we created the technology and we are best placed to look after them. We are also trying new ways to explain our technologies through our hair salons, testing zones instore, online live streams, 1:1 live video.”
The virtual experiences will complement Dyson’s 318 existing physical Dyson Demo stores worldwide, 30 of which have opened in city centres during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nineteen more are planned for 2021 and beyond.