#shashadu

[designsurvivor]

What I’ve Got: Trader Joe’s

Though I hate grocery shopping, what gets me through it is being able to go to Trader Joe’s every week. Trader Joe’s, like what Starbucks aimed for back in the day, creates a local, personalized shopping experience. Part of its charm lies in the murals it hires artists to paint on the walls, which are connected thematically to the city or town the store is located in. Shoppers can also purchase reusable shopping bags that represent the town they live in (I’ve started somewhat of a collection from all the places I’ve lived). Regardless of whether TJ’s is located in San Francisco or Greenville. it evokes a neighborhood-y vibe. Other grocery store chains feel much more corporate and impersonal when you walk through their doors. The friendly staff also contribute to the pleasant environment of TJ’s stores. Last but not least, TJ’s selection of items limit the options shoppers must browse through to find what they want, making grocery shopping much more efficient and stress-free than what it can be.

[designsurvivor]

What I’ve Got: This Photo

I saw this photo on fashion blogger Aimee Song’s Instagram today (https://www.instagram.com/p/BTT4nGHDMe0/) and it immediately put me in summer vacation, wanderlust mode. I think it’s interesting how Instagram has turned the act of taking covetable lifestyle photos like this one into a marketable skill for an entire generation. There are now countless social medialites, including those in my peer group, who spend a significant amount of time marketing themselves on Instagram, not for professional reasons, but for personal and social ones. Overall, I think that Instagram provides a great platform for self expression through the creative act of taking and editing photos. However, sometimes it can feel overwhelming to keep up with one’s peers in showing whose life is the coolest or who can come up with the wittiest subtitles. Regardless, this photo (and Aimee Song’s Instagram in general) is desirable not only because of its aesthetics, but because of the meaning and emotions it conveys to viewers -- yes, about luxury and wealth -- but mostly about a sense of freedom and empowerment. 

[designsurvivor]

What I’ve Got: YSL Lipstick

This week, I decided to post something a bit different from what I usually post - a physical beauty product in the form of YSL lipstick. I have been addicted to YSL lipsticks ever since I tried it for the first time a few years ago. The design of the lipstick is seamless -- everything from the aesthetics of the case (it is exquisite to look at), to the smell (it smells expensive, if that’s possible, and I think it is), to the quality of the lipstick itself (extremely moisturizing and luxurious). I’ve tried different lipsticks besides YSL, but keep coming back to it due to the factors mentioned above, despite its high price point.

[designsurvivor]

Pinvision

During our field research, we explored ways in which Wayfair is using 3D scanning and AR to not only transform the way shoppers buy furniture online, but to also give interior design enthusiasts a way to immerse themselves in the virtual design of spaces before committing to new furniture or layouts. AR and 3D scanning technology is innovating quickly, and in a few years we believe that advanced AR sensors will be standard across smartphones, and that AR will become a common tool for brands to market their products.

We set out to apply AR to a new field: online shopping. The problem that online shoppers have always experienced is the inability to try clothes on before they purchase them. In addition, people in general need more ways to explore and try new styles while not taking too much time away from their busy schedules. Exploring new styles is currently time-consuming both in brick-and-mortar stores and through online shopping. The last problem our app tries to solve is to help people find styles that match their body types.

For this challenge, we harnessed the popularity of an existing app that fashion enthusiasts already use: Pinterest. Currently, users use Pinterest to “pin” fashion blogger and celeb styles for inspiration. Sometimes, their pins are linked to websites where they can purchase the look, but not always. Pinterest recently added a new feature to their mobile app that allows users to take photos of objects they find to be desirable, generating a series of pins that are similar to the object. Due to Pinterest’s existing popularity with fashion enthusiasts and its innovative use of machine learning, we decided to build our fashion AR idea off of Pinterest.

PinVision is an augmented reality mobile app that allows you to try on clothes in real time, curated from your personal pins, budget, and approximate body dimensions.

The user is greeted by a welcome screen that asks to access the camera, and then, the journey begins. The phone’s built-in AR sensors measure the dimensions of the user’s body. (We know that this is possible because Wayfair’s AR technology currently allows users to measure the dimensions of furniture using just the phone’s camera). Next, Pinterest suggests pins of looks and styles that are flattering for his her or body type. If the user wants to try on items of clothing in a particular pin, they can click on the camera icon.

On the next screen, the user is asked what their budget is. They can skip this step if they’d like to, but it helps the app generate items that fit within their budget. The user is then able to try on the items of clothing through augmented reality. (Wayfair’s AR technology makes the virtual furniture seem incredibly authentic, while ours is just a rough prototype). Next, the user can indicate whether they liked or disliked the item they tried on. If they like the item, they are given more information about the item, such as what brand it is and where they can purchase the item. If they dislike the item, they are able to provide feedback on why they dislike it, as well as try on the next item that is similar but from a different brand. Though Pinterest currently doesn’t capture data on where an item can be purchased for every photo taken, and neither does it allow users to make purchases directly from the app, we envision that this could become a priority for the company in the future as it would bring in substantial revenue. In addition, since brands would need to invest in 3D scanning technology in order to render their products in AR, they would need a financial incentive to partner with Pinterest to offer their products as 3D objects for users to try on.

Not only does PinVision provide users with a new and immersive way to explore different styles that suit their body types, but it also presents a “wow”-factor for the consumers who use it. Even if the clothes are tried on for fun and not purchased, the experience is fun, fresh, and frictionless. PinVision is our vision for how retail will be transformed in the future by emerging technologies like AR.

[designsurvivor]

Wayfair

For our experience, we visited Wayfair HQ to glean insight into their VR/AR experiences they’re creating for furniture shopping and design. We used Wayfair’s demos to demonstrate the various ways that furniture ecommerce will change in the future. When compared to IKEA’s virtual offerings, Wayfair is far ahead of the curve. Although, according to Wayfair, only 10% of furniture shopping is done online (90% is still brick-and-mortar), VR will bridge the gap between the two and help Wayfair, still a relatively new company, expand. Their brand image (expressed by the furniture they carry) is very Bostonian and less minimalist than IKEA, but they still set themselves apart through unique experiences like these. To create the virtual imagery Wayfair uses in their VR/AR products and online catalog, they’re also developing a proprietary 3D scanner to defray costs to themselves and their suppliers. This scanner captures immense detail, and was truly remarkable in the realism it created. They’ve so far scanned 10,000 products, and aim to shortly have their entire catalog digitized - all 100,000 products of it! The demos we saw included using an Oculus headset to place furniture into various environments, such as a backyard patio, and using a Google Daydream to shop for furniture in a pre-selected environment (in this case, a log cabin). They were shockingly well-polished and realistic. As far as collecting the data to make this experience possible, Wayfair is still debating the internal implications of user experience versus data collection. With real-time room scanning, it can be easy to collect that data to send suggestions on furniture to customers, but they’re avoiding this, and instead shooting for convenience, for instance by saving the scanned environment for future use. User friction in the experience still exists. Many users are still wary to enter card details on mobile, and prefer to purchase on desktop computers. Therefore, we can only imagine the gap between those customers and the customers that will use VR to buy, rather than just to browse. Although we are certainly on the cusp of a VR revolution, according to Wayfair it is yet to arrive, as it’s still being used primarily for niche gaming purposes. When it does come, though, Wayfair is likely to be incredibly well-prepared, maybe even compared to big-name competitors such as IKEA. Wayfair has an exciting future, and their VR experience is a model for ecommerce. However, I would also say that user adoption is not likely to be high in the next several years. I also worry about eliminating the jobs of photographers and interior designers in the process of creating these experiences. This, however, is something that the economy will have to cope with in general in the future, and are biproducts of VR itself. Wayfair’s implementation of these technologies remains polished.

[designsurvivor]

What I’ve Got: NASA VR

I discovered this video on NASA’s website while reading about the recent revelation that 7 earth-like exoplanets have been discovered orbiting the star, Trappist-1, 40 light years away. This 360 degree artist’s representation of what it’s like to be on planet Trappist-1d is incredible in that it allows us to imagine what it’s like to walk on a planet outside our solar system that could potentially harbor life. When you explore this virtual world, you notice a few things, such as the fact that the sun shines red, and you seem to see 6 moons in the sky, (though you soon realize that they are not moons, but other planets in the star system). You begin to realize that it’s not only possible for life to exist outside of Earth; but that life could be quite different from what we’re used to on our planet. This video makes NASA’s discovery seem all the more visceral; and the possibility that we’re not alone in the universe that much more real and exciting.

[designsurvivor]

What I’ve Got: Cranes in the Sky Music Video

Solange’s Cranes in the Sky music video (the song for which she won a Grammy) is my inspiration for the week. The video was the result of a collaboration between Solange, her husband Alan Ferguson, and photographer Carlota Guerrero. The aesthetics of the music video were purposefully designed to add a “visceral new dimension” to the lyrics, themes, and mood of her song and album, A Seat at the Table (Vogue). The music video features Solange and other black women in a variety of avant-garde fashion pieces in various settings throughout New Mexico, New Orleans, and Texas. It’s less like a typical music video and more like a museum film feature. According to Solange, it was important for the aesthetics of the video to complement the themes of her music to create powerful, avant-garde images of black people, as more often than not, black people are put into a box aesthetically and musically. I love the use of color in the video, the subtle movements, the themes that are illuminated, and of course, the music that accompanies it!