New Directions for the Design of Virtual Reality Interfaces to E-Commerce Sites
Authors:Chittaro L., Ranon R.
Published in:Proceedings of AVI 2002: 5th International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces, ACM Press, New York, May 2002, pp. 308-315
Abstract:Virtual Reality (VR) interfaces to e-commerce sites have recently begun to appear on the Internet, promising to make the eshopping experience more natural, attractive, and fun for customers. Unfortunately, switching to a desktop VR design for an e-commerce site is not trivial and does not guarantee at all that the interface will be effective. In this paper, we first briefly discuss the potential advantages of these interfaces, stressing the need for a better approach to their design. Then, we present the directions we are following to build more usable and effective VR stores, i.e.: (i) reformulating design guidelines from real-world stores in the VR context, (ii) exploiting VR to create user empowerments that meet both customer and merchant needs, and (iii) personalizing the VR store to better reflect customerÕs taste, preferences, and interests. For each of the three directions, we illustrate and discuss a detailed case study.
