Retailtainment:TheDemodernShowroominCologne
Springtime is showroom time - and so in 2019, we once again opened the doors of our Cologne office and invited guests to the REtAILTAINMENT Showroom at the Vulkan site in Ehrenfeld. This year, the Demodern Showroom in Cologne was fully focused on retail and entertainment - two areas that, in our opinion, are becoming increasingly inseparable. Visitors could test technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Reality, game and shop installations, as well as 3D product configurators.
Impressions
It all started on a sunny Monday in April. From April 1st, our guests could discover our latest developments for two weeks and see how we bring ideas and technologies to life with our experts in concept, design, and development. (and that was no April Fool's joke)
The Entertainment Area
Since we rented another room at the Vulkan site - our so-called Studio - at the end of last year, we were able to focus entirely on the entertainment sector in our main office and transform our meeting rooms into micro-amusement parks.
The Gaming Room
Digital pinball, 5G drone race, or perhaps an interactive baseball game? In our gaming room, our guests were spoiled for choice.
Digital Pinball
The digital pinball already brought players closer to the topics surrounding the MagentaEINS mobile contract of Deutsche Telekom at IFA Berlin 2018 - during our showroom, it was all about the fun of the game, and players could flip on two different screens. The goal was to catapult the ball from the conventional lower pinball area to the upper one and collect as many points as possible.
Interactive 5G Drone Race
The Telekom 5G Drone Race was also developed for IFA Berlin 2018 and aimed to bring visitors closer to the topics surrounding Telekom's new, improved, and faster 5G network. Up to five players can simultaneously register with a smartphone to steer the racers remotely through a smart city. They must avoid obstacles and can collect power-ups à la Mario Kart.
Pod Tables
On the pod table developed for our GATORADE Road Show, our visitors could play mini-games and prove whether they are a pro at (basketball) hoop shooting or better at delivering a touchdown - tough decision.
Demodern Gadgets
In addition to the installations, we also had some (still top secret) apps ready, allowing visitors to swing in Virtual Reality over Berlin, Cape Town, Vienna, New York, and San Francisco on our VR Swing and try out the Magic Leap augmented reality glasses.
The Looking Glass
A highlight was certainly The Looking Glass, which allowed the configuration of the dream shoe. The Looking Glass is a holographic display that lets you view 3D creations in the real world, interact with them, and share them with others.
Retail Area
We transformed our newly rented studio into a retail showroom and presented our digital installations, which are perfect for the POS. New addition: Hypeboxes, which we will discuss in more detail below.
Setting Up in VR, Configuring in 3D
But first, to the tried and true: setting up in our Virtual Reality Showroom "IKEA Immerse" was once again possible, and of course, the smart Cities Retail Experience could be tried out - including configuration of the favorite SMART.
It's all about Hypeboxes
Hypeboxes revolutionize product presentations. Inside the boxes, which are available in various sizes, they display the object you want to showcase in a minimalist and modern way. On the transparent display screen in front, you present matching video content, and with the touch function, you can gather more information about the product. This creates an optical fusion of physical and digital - phygital at its best.
We already used these Hypeboxes for the GATORADE Trade Show 2018 to better explore the products. For a transparent 32-inch LED box, we developed an interactive animation that allowed us to show the products to registered users and bring the content closer to them. By touching the touchscreen, users could activate animations and access important information.
The highlight was certainly the Hypebox for helmade. A physical helmet was placed in the box, which we also recreated and animated in 3D. With Unity, the 3D model was virtually brought to life, allowing users to scan the helmet in the Hypebox, which then appears on the iPad used for this purpose. With the help of Augmented Reality, the user can try on this helmet, adjust the color, and see if it fits. And all without the user having to actually put it on and ruin their hairstyle while trying it out. For us, a revolution for retail.
Last but not least...
... we want to say THANK YOU, thanks to all the visitors who were inspired by our experiences and retail installations. Also, thanks to everyone who planned and made this great showroom possible. We'll see you again in May in Hamburg - because, as every year, the showroom goes on a Demodern location tour.