Shopping Center Hangs Their Hat on Virtual Reality Experience

Shopping for shoes in virtual reality may be a new form of retail that some are excited about, but one shopping center in Australia is giving customers a virtual reality experience minus the whole selling something.

AMP Capital Shopping Centers (AMPCSC), which has a portfolio comprising of 23 shopping centers throughout Australia and New Zealand, opened a virtual reality installation at their biennial AMP Amplify Festival this week. The festival showcases inventions and demonstrations of emerging technologies that can be applied to solve key business challenges. AMPCSC uses the festival to create a digitally led activation that is later rolled out into shopping centers across the country.

This year’s festival included a full installation and virtual reality experience for participants titled Virtual Voyage. The installation invites participants to use either a Google Cardboard headset, powered by a Google Nexus phone, or a Samsung Gear VR headset, powered by a Samsung Galaxy S6. The virtual reality experience captures the imagination of children and adults by allowing them to fly through a series of iconic Australian environments from a unique perspective.

Belinda Daly, Head of Shopping Centre Marketing at AMP Capital Shopping Centers said Virtual Voyage is about creating a unique point of difference for AMP Capital Shopping Centers.

“We will take Virtual Voyage on a roadshow of our centers, utilizing it as part of school holiday activities where we will be able to bring Virtual Voyage and the immersive environments to life through a range of interactive journeys.”

We have been reporting on a number of VR experiences coming out of Australia like the Australian football field rush and are definitely looking forward to continued innovation and unique consumer virtual reality experiences to share in the future.