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Design

A Virtual Reality Tesco Is Opening Shop In Berlin

The retailer is dabbling with Oculus Rift for research, and the implications could interesting...

Though it may first appear like the most mundane virtual reality game ever, Tesco supermarket's recent dabbling with Oculus Rift in a project called "Tesco Pele," is a future-forward research opportunity for the British-based chain, and it's now debuting at the TCC International Marketing Forum in Berlin.

In a video (above), the retailer shows customers donning the virtual reality goggles and "shopping" in a 360 degree, virtual supermarket, possibly hinting that consumers will be able to pick out and purcharse groceries without ever leaving their couches in the future. It could be like using Seamless, except you'd be able to explore a wide range of hyper-detailed virtual products as if you were in a Tesco IRL.

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Tesco previously debuted the VR experience in the UK as a R&D strategy to enhance how the company can merchandise shelves faster, re-organize the store layouts, and improve marketing and advertising. It's a collaboration with virtual reality-focused creative agency, Figure Digital, whose founder, Ben Paterson commented, "We plan to create virtual experiences for brands that advertisers could only have dreamed about a few years ago."

Though virtual reality grocery shopping is the kind of future that might force Aldous Huxley to roll over in his grave, the idea is pretty unbelievable—no lines, no cleanups on aisle four, no screaming children, just the goods.

H/T The Drum

@zachsokol