Walmart plunges into retail future, bringing VR to the masses
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A trailer in the parking lot of a Walmart in Burbank, California, isn’t where you’d expect to find the future of retail marketing. But inside is the first tangible product of Walmart’s Spatial& retail-tech startupand it can simultaneously impress you and turn your stomach.
Based on the film “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” and created by Spatial& (pronounced “spatial-and”) and DreamWorks, it’s a 10-minute virtual-reality show that includes a five-minute VR simulation with stops to talk uncomfortably close with animated characters and to pet dragons during a high-speed ride through a cave. Motorized pod seats to simulate riding the animated beasts. And it’s free, except for licensed film merchandise in an actual-reality gift shop at the end.
After starting in Burbank last month, the VR tour has been working its way across 40 stores in seven citiesessentially along the classic Route 66 on its way to the Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters, which it expects to reach in April. It could get an extended release if the reception is strong, says Katie Finnegan, CEO of Spatial&.
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