Advanced Simulations adds VR shopper research tools

The three products are: 4D Shopper Plus uses Azure Knowledge’s DigiWalksÔ technology to put shoppers in an immersive environment based on thousands of photographs of actual stores; 4D Shopper VR uses virtual reality so with a headset shoppers can walk through a store and pick up and test-buy items; and 4D Shopper which can test the in-store and on-shelf impact of packaging, pricing, promotions, shelf assortment and shelf layouts.

Dr. Stephen Needel, managing partner at ASL, said: “We started VR in market research in 1993 and this continues our leadership in usable technology to unobtrusively collect data on how shoppers respond to in-store merchandising activities.”

Jay Ruparel, executive director at Azure Knowledge, added: “In the very near future, we will introduce eye-tracking and facial recognition to the shopper measurement process.”

Separately, Ruparel, was recently named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017.