Avartising: The Translational Interface

by on 5 August, 2008 - 10:51

by: Rick van der Wal

A new trend, a new Buzzword. Probably the latest one (and very niche) is ‘Avartising’.

Avartising is a mix of the words Avatar, and Advertising. A 3d model which translates digital comfort to real world products. You can see hairstyles, clothing, make-up (tattoos and piercings?) on an avatar looking like you, or close enough to make the mental image. Try out a range of virtual products that would normally take hours, or be completely impossible. Then select the ones you liked and purchase the ‘real deal’ from brands such as Sears, H&M, Adidas, Speedo, Levi Strauss & Co (source: My Virtual Model).

The ‘Virtual Model’ experiment isn’t new, it claims to have created 14 million models so far. But with the rising attention for everything 3d it seems to have hit the spotlight again. As of December the 4th it allows you to upload a picture, make the avatar even more ‘you’ by adding your face to the model. Add the major ‘personalization’ trend and big brands venturing into Second Life and you get a viable platform for online retail innovation.

Personally, I think the multipurpose dress-up doll is a great addition to any online store, but is still in a ‘toy’ stage. Its effectiveness would mainly be the attraction of the 3d feature itself rather than the translational feature. People still have to much trouble seeing the 3d model as something that could be them in real life, and just like to ‘dress it up’. As a tool it has a lot of advantages. It challenges the user to mix and match more then a 2d interface, increasing the number of sales per consumer (Its easy to find new, fitting shoes for that shirt you haven’t bought yet).

Furthermore, the 3d interface improves browsing and exploring. It feels more ‘real’ then going by pictures, the traditional catalogue shopping, which definitely eases the purchasing process. Clothing size recommendations can be done more easily when asked for specific data to render a good avatar, while you can scale the measurements up and down with visual feedback.

In the (near) future we will certainly see more brands experimenting with 3d advertising like this. The comfortable digital environment, with all its conveniences such as recommendations, comparisons and instant gratification, combined with 3d visual feedback and brand immersion, while selling real products for real money.

Earlier I spoke about the Avatar being a psychological interface.

Original Post: http://digado.nl/avartising-the-translational-interface.html