The virtual reality web

There is a raft of developments that may fundamentally change the way in which consumers interact with the internet.

New media commentator Stowe Boyd believes that the next evolution of the web involves some pretty radical steps:

“Imagine a Web without browsers. Imagine breaking completely away from the document metaphor, or a true blurring of application and information. That’s what Web 3.0 will be”

One of the moves away from a document structure focuses on how the web will evolve into a 3-dimensional environment.

The technical limitations of internet speeds previously stifled the growth in more complex visual interaction with the web – but as broadband speeds really start to increase, due to both BT’s migration to digital exchanges and the advent of fibre optics broadband, speeds of up to 100mb/s are only a few years away. And we need to put that into context – only half a decade ago we were still talking about 56k dial-up connections – a 100mb/s connection is 2000 times faster.

And with that will come a richer interactive experience. Second Life is a great pointer of the direction this will take.

But it’s not simply within the world of entertainment and leisure that these environments are being created.

3B is a software company developing the next generation of 3D online experiences. It has developed a platform that enables users to socialise, shop and browse within a 3D environment. One of its current developments is to allow users to create 3D environments for their social networking pages across MySpace, Bebo, MetaCafe, Flickr and YouTube. And it’s just one of many companies looking to establish a more ‘real world’ means of shopping in the comfort of our own homes.

Whilst the majority of online shoppers are now comfortable with the online experience for purchasing music, DVDs and even electrical items, one of the main sectors that’s struggled for growth has been online grocery shopping. This is largely due to the sheer number of different items in different grocery categories needed as part of the weekly shop. The current online experience is extremely flat and rather unusable & clunky. And for FMCG marketers, branding and merchandising is a nightmare – with brands arranged alphabetically in lists.

The advent of 3D will create an in-store environment that we’re all familiar with – store layouts that start with the fresh produce sections and move through to beers/wines & spirits. Each consumer’s store layout could even be customised to match that of their local real-world store so they feel even more familiar with where everything is.

Merchandising and promotional activity in this environment also begins to resemble the real-world process – but with data on the individual consumer and an opportunity to talk to the consumer in a 1-2-1 environment, promotions can be even more compelling and finely targeted.

So, once again, the careful use of consumer data plays a key role in the development of internet.