eCommerce might just be one of the most rapidly growing industries in the world. With the meteoric rise of Amazon and eBay, the entire landscape of shopping changed in the blink of an eye.
Today corporations like Apple, ASOS, Asda, Amazon etc. are offering massive inventory selection online – most providing exclusively online-only products. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to have your weekly groceries, outfits and tech delivered to your doorstep within a couple of days.
This massive increase in the industry has led to a rise in tech advancements like we have never seen before. As they say, money drives innovation, and eCommerce has a lot of money. But one innovation could be the spark that changes everything all over again.
View in 3D’ by Google
Recently tech giant Google released a new feature on their search browser called ‘view in 3D’. This feature allows users to utilize the cameras on their mobile devices to display an Augmented Reality (AR) image of certain animals and insects in real-time, adapting sizes and movements around what the camera can see.
For example, one could simply search for ‘Rhinoceros Beetle’ on your mobile device, and the browser will give you the option to ‘View in 3D’. In seconds, a rather large beetle will appear on your phone screen in your room. This is a fun new feature that allows people to examine and inspect wildlife in an entirely new way.
So, what does this have to do with eCommerce?
AR and eCommerce
One of the most difficult things to buy online is furniture and decorations. These items may look good on the web page, but could end up looking disastrous in real life. That is why so many people still avoid purchasing any decorative item or piece of furniture unless it is in person. Well, AR and the Google ‘View in 3D’ feature could change that for forever.
Imagine this; you are shopping for a new sofa and want to make sure that it will look good with your current room layout. You find the sofa you like online, and you simply click on the built-in ‘View in 3D’ feature. In seconds the sofa is on your screen overlaid onto your living room. You can now see exactly what that sofa will look like in your space without any risk, or even leaving your home!
This could be done with appliances, wall fixtures, house decorations, and even wall paint as the technology evolves. These features and technology are right on our doorstep, and they could radically change the way that we shop online.
This is just one example of how online shopping and eCommerce are evolving daily and bringing us new innovations as consumers. Soon we might be able to shop for virtually anything online, and view it in real-time before we even hit ‘purchase’.
Conclusion
Currently, the ‘View in 3D’ feature for Google is limited to a small select amount of objects – mostly animals for educational purposes. However, it is widely known that the investment into AR technology is there, even by companies outside of Google. It’s not ‘science fiction’ to see how in a couple of years or less we could have AR technology on all of our favourite eCommerce retailers, both on Google and on their websites.
