20|20 Launches Virtual Reality Tool

MR technology and services firm 20|20 Research has launched a virtual reality (VR) platform which simulates 'a multitude of consumer products and sensory experiences'. Participants don VR headsets to enter in-store environments or other locations such as restaurants, cruise ships, hotels or events.

The company, which has been working behind the scenes over 18 months to develop the technology for market research applications and has filed several patents, says the tool can track participants' gaze to see what packages or stimuli attract the most attention, and trigger additional probes and alternative scenarios and layouts based on this and the choices they make. Clients can follow the experience respondents are having as they use the device.

The tool made its debut at the 2014 ESOMAR Congress in Nice, France, and caps a year of innovation for 20|20, which unveiled 'Go Anywhere' facial coding system Affdex Discovery Online in July, and in November 2013 launched a real-time interactive tool called Virtual Intercepts, tapping respondents from online quant surveys for additional qual feedback.

Founder and CEO Jim Bryson says of the new launch: 'We're excited to be the first to introduce virtual reality applications for market research... We believe this innovation has tremendous potential in product research, packaging, brand building, even customer satisfaction efforts, helping researchers and marketers gain significant learnings from consumers at a fraction of what it might usually cost. As virtual reality headsets become more mainstream in the coming months, 20|20's product offering will be able to reach into millions of homes and offices worldwide.'

20|20 was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Nashville with a web site at www.2020research.com . A demo of the new tool is at http://vimeo.com/105466397 .