Revealing the Shopper Experience of Using a "Magic Mirror" Augmented Reality Make-Up Application

Abstract

Virtual try-ons have recently emerged as a new form of Augmented Reality application. Using motion caption techniques, such apps show virtual elements like make-up or accessories superimposed over the real image of a person as if they were actually wearing them. However, there is as of yet little understanding about their value for providing a viable experience. We report on an in-situ study, observing how shoppers approach and respond to such a "Magic Mirror" in a store. Our findings show that after the initial surprise, the virtual try-on resulted in much exploration when shoppers looked at themselves on a display integrated in the make-up counter. Behavior tracking data from interactions with the mirror supported this. Moreover, survey data measured perceptions of augmentation as well as hedonic and utilitarian value of the app and suggested the augmented experience was perceived to be playful and credible while also acting as a strong driver for future behavior. We discuss opportunities and challenges that such technology brings for shopping and other domains.

The Use of Augmented Reality in Retail: A Review of Literature

“…Reviewed literature [1], [4], [5], [9], [12], [15], [18], [19], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [27], [31], [34], [35], [36], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [44], [45], [48], [49], [52], [53]…”

“…In comparison to the significant number of studies that employed AR in online retail scenarios, only 17 % of the analyzed studies chose to investigate in-store solutions of AR. Besides providing additional product information, in-store solutions may be used to attract customers to a brand and spark curiosity, thereby making the shopping experience within physical stores more engaging [27]. With regard to the applied research methodology, 76 % of the reviewed articles conducted field studies or laboratory experiments, while the remaining 24 % conducted survey research.…”

“…The idea is that users are able to try on the virtual products and make an initial judgement of what the fashion or cosmetic products would look like on themselves, without actually having to try them on or even having access to the physical products. This phenomenon is referred to as virtual tryon and such AR solutions are commonly referred to as virtual or magic mirrors [4,27,38,40]. The second most encountered product categories used in the screened literature to study AR in retail are furniture and decorations.…”

“…15,18,19,22,34,38]. As presented in Table 4, our literature review reveals that most studies were concerned with investigating the effects of AR on behavioral intentions to purchase products [1,4,9,25,27,36,38,39,44,52,53], intentions to use or reuse an AR app [25,42,45] as well as intentions to recommend the AR app to others [18,21,22,25,27,39]. Naturally, these outcomes are preceded by psychological experiences and when we turn our attention to these psychological facets of using AR, it becomes apparent that both cognitive and affective outcomes played a major role in the reviewed body of literature (refer to Table 3).…”

An experimental study on the role of augmented reality content type in an outdoor site exploration

“…Designing for AR apps required resolving issues such as what is the best way for users to search for the content and what functions are most appropriate for user interface (Yovcheva, Buhalis, and Gatzidis 2012). While technical challenges still remain salient, it is the different facets of user experience with AR that have attracted more attention of late due to the increased use of this technology (Yovcheva et al 2014;Kourouthanassis et al 2015;Javornik et al 2016).…”