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Virtual Reality (VR) Technology Alibaba

Alibaba to open VR store complete with robotic assistant

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By Tony Connelly, Sports Marketing Reporter

July 14, 2016 | 2 min read

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is opening an online virtual reality (VR) shop which will feature a robotic assistant who will recommend new products based on past shopping history and customer preference.

Alibaba

Alibaba

The store is intended to help push the online purchase of certain products such as clothing and luxury goods which customers often want to get a closer look at before making their purchase.

The company has created renderings for hundreds of products and said it would soon be providing its merchants the standards required to have their own VR enabled options.

The move is intended to further monetise the sale of VR headsets which Alibaba says it sells over 300,000 units of each month. Currently the cost of converting a real product to an equivalent digital 3D is $50 however the company is aiming to bring the cost down to $1 per product as the programme expands.

Alibaba has been actively driving the VR ecosystem by promoting several VR startups and leading a funding round to help develop its own device. The company says it hopes to make a broad rollout of the service by the end of 2016.

Virtual Reality (VR) Technology Alibaba

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