Via Geekzone comes news of a
3D shopping mall, called The Mall Plus, that has
just been released in New Zealand. After seeing this, memories of the mid to late 90's
came flooding back to me - a time when websites built on real world metaphors filled the
Web landscape. For example the very first ISP I used, back in the mid 90's, used a
virtual town as its metaphor (if I remember correctly). For further background about
those days, here is how I described it in an article Joshua Porter and I co-wrote a while
ago for Digital Web
Magazine:
"During the early years of the Web, before content had semantic meaning, sites were developed as a collection of “pages.” Sites in the 1990s were usually either brochure-ware (static HTML pages with insipid content) or they were interactive in a flashy, animated, JavaScript kind of way. In that era, a common method of promoting sites was to market them as “places”—the Web as a virtual world complete with online shopping malls and portals."
So I have to admit it is surprising that the virtual shopping mall, as a concept, is alive and well in 2006. Lately we've heard that Boo.com, an infamous 3D shopping website of the late 90's, is making a comeback later this year. But one that has actually launched already is The Mall Plus, where users navigate a virtual shopping mall in a 3D environment. All of the shops are a part of the The Mall Plus, rather than being external sites. Geekzone quotes The Mall Plus CEO Nigel Kirkpatrick as saying it's "the next generation of retail, through a virtual environment".
The Mall Plus was discussed on the NZ 2.0 mailing list and the first comment was spot on: do people really want to shop online like it is a real shop, or do people want to use the internet as a tool to make the shopping experience better? Right now the answer is that people use the Web to enhance their shopping experience - e.g. to find out more information about products, or the best price. e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay are obviously huge success stories, but neither mimics the real world. Both Amazon and eBay are Web native services that utilize the best characteristics of the Web - collaborative ratings, personalization, many-to-many auctions, etc.
Perhaps if you could interact with other shoppers in The Mall Plus, then that would be a killer feature - e.g. if it became like a social networking / shopping experience. But currently the 3D people inside the mall are "lifeless and static", as one NZ 2.0 commenter noted. Another point made on the NZ 2.0 list was that virtual 3D shopping actually slows down the user experience - whereas with Amazon and other e-commerce sites, the idea is to make online shopping as efficient as possible.
I can actually see a long-term future for 3D virtual shopping, so I applaud The Mall Plus for tackling this. However I don't think it's a viable idea right now, as the likes of Amazon and eBay - along with new meta services like uGenie - are much more Web native in the year 2006. But in 2016? Who knows, maybe it will be a 3D virtual shopping world. What do you think?
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Hmm, not my cup of tea - if I want to walk around a shopping mall then I'll move back to Christchurch. Bit like "reality TV" for me - if I want to watch people have breakdowns then I'll talk with my mates, TV is to entertain/inform. The Web isn't the place to replace real life but give a different experience.
One question, what is (and how do we get on) the "NZ 2.0 mailing list"?
Posted by: Mike Riversdale | December 4, 2006 2:33 PM
Mike, I thought you were already on the NZ 2.0 mailing list. I've added you now. Basically it is a list for kiwis in open source, Web 2.0, and emerging technology. It's the place to be for 2.0 kiwis ;-)
Posted by: Richard MacManus | December 4, 2006 2:37 PM
May be good for disabled, very old or very futuristic people but what general audience cares is what you said, what Amazon and eBay are already giving.
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | December 4, 2006 3:26 PM
I was having a few more thoughts about this today after you posted this. I don't think the whole virtual mall thing is the way to go but I think there is room for more VR type stuff and in a way we are already getting there. Take for example the workbench I just made in the garage:
- I read the blog entry - http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/07/make_podcast_weekend_projects.html
- The I watched the podcast video -http://downloads.oreilly.com/make/wp_workbench.mp4
- Downloaded the SketchUp 3D model - http://downloads.oreilly.com/make/make_workbench.skp
- And then checked out other photos on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctb/277387742/in/pool-make/
Then I actually made the thing. Each one of these formats enhanced the 'old' web version of text and maybe a few photos. The SketckUp 3D plan showed me exactly how the joints should look, etc. I can see this happening with a lot of products where you could take them apart, change the colours and do other cool things with them before buying them.
Posted by: Glen (barnaclebarnes) | December 4, 2006 5:52 PM
Richard, I agree that I find this all surprising and odd.
You should check out b3.net, which does the same for Second Life with eBay, Amazon and the like - along with offering to "virtualize" webpages:
http://www.emergence-media.com/2006/12/quick-links-virtual-malls-from-boocom-to-second-life/
Posted by: Daniel R | December 4, 2006 11:38 PM
I'd be curious to know if consumers will value (1) novelty - the 3D experience - over (2) price?
Said differently, will consumers be willing to pay $10-$20 more for a pair of Nike's at TheMallPlus vs. what they can obtain with little effort elsewhere on the internet. (I'm making the assumption that TheMallPlus will NOT be the *low cost leader* on every item they offer compared to other sites elsewhere on the internet. Consequently, what are they going to do "differently" to "convince" people to pay a *premium* for their merchandise? or to consumate the transaction once they have found something they want to purchase as opposed to then going somewhere else.)
Furthermore, one big weakness I see in TheMallPlus is that they will attempt to become everything to everyone. As a result of this "dilution," they might not offer sufficient "concentrated content" to attract users - or said differently, they are more likely to be coated in "teflon" than "velcroe."
Posted by: DavidEzra | December 5, 2006 2:12 PM
Anthony Feint over at TAP has just slammed TheMailPlus in response to this post. Hehehe http://thatamazingperson.com/?p=109
Posted by: Matty | December 6, 2006 3:15 AM
I came across the MOJI Intelligent Messenger featuring 3D artificial life forms..get this...WITHIN an instant messenger that combines AI and computational linguistics..what do you think about this? does it actually work? if virtual pets can "live" in an IM and understand what we are talking about what next man? check out www.morfdynamics.com
Posted by: Robb | December 11, 2006 1:19 PM
Thought you guys might like to know I've found a virtual version of various World Famous streets inc. London's Notting Hill, Oxford Street, & Richmond, or Fifth Avenue NY, that allow you to scroll along the street and click doors to walk inside the buildings. Pretty hi-res and pretty cool! Warning: Big files so you should use broadband.
http://www.superhighstreet.com or http://www.oxfordstreet.com
Also offers a Google-powered home page that offers to find and product or they'll buy it for you at http://search.superhighstreet.com! I'm going to try it out! :)
Ciao,
Posted by: Jam Wilkins | December 11, 2006 4:24 PM
I have just started working for a new site called Uwalkthemall, so am a little dismayed to see the negative comments here.
The mallplus does look a little cartoonish. And the pages loaded very slowly.
We are looking for smaller shops that sell unique items not found in the big box stores. That may draw a different kind of shopper.
I'm going with the thought that there are some out there who are looking for the cool experience and not just the quick one.
Otherwise I'll be looking for a job again!
Posted by: Kathy | December 13, 2006 10:14 AM
I am gonna actually contact MallPlus to see if they want to develop an Amazon-type recommendation systems. There are a lot of algorithms for 'recommendation systems' and all of them are my domain area of expertise. These algorithms come from data-mining & machine learning. I ain't seen anyone in the country done recommendation yet, but it won't be long before people would jump into it.
If anyone is keen on machine learning algorithms where it can be used in for product recommendation such as Amazon, there is our own popular open source Java project from Waikato University here, which is called WEKA:
"Weka 3: Data Mining Software in Java"
http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka/
Posted by: spal | December 13, 2006 11:51 PM
Robb said...
[I came across the MOJI Intelligent Messenger featuring 3D artificial life forms..get this...WITHIN an instant messenger that combines AI and computational linguistics..what do you think about this?]
Yes, this kind of thing works. A popular algorithm used today in computational linguistic, also it is the main algorithm in modern day search engine is SVD (Singular Value Decomposition), which is available in many computer languages for any matrix algebra open sources (lots of them on the internet). I use an open source Java package (see link below for Java Matrix Algebra) which contains an implementation of SVD. I use SVD in a different task such as data clustering for a pattern recognition application however its use is the same if it is a text search engine or whatever.
"Java Matrix Algebra"
http://math.nist.gov/javanumerics/jama/
Here is the use of SVD in developing search engine & computational linguistics application, where this paper shows the algorithmic detail of its use. The use of SVD in this case for computational linguistics is called LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). A search engine that uses LSI (concept search), is better than one that uses Boolean Search (term or keyword search). This means that LSI retrieves more relevant document regarding the query term compared to Boolean search which retrieves any document that contain the terms whether they are relevant or irrelevant to the query.
"Using Linear Algebra for Intelligent Information Retrieval"
http://lsirwww.epfl.ch/courses/dis/2003ws/papers/ut-cs-94-270.pdf
Posted by: spal | December 14, 2006 12:20 AM
There are multiple methods of displaying products on the internet. While one method is more practical for this, another method may be more practical for that. I am the creator/producer of www.uwalkthemall.com. The reason for creating this interactive 3D flash animation mall is to bring retailers of all types to one location for a more pleasurable yet functionsl shopping experience. Consumers will guide their interactive 3D character through the mall and enter storefronts to make purchases via existing websites or pages business owner's have created within the mall. Each storefront is it's own entity. The mall does not monitor nor assist in the private transactions within the storefronts. There will be many added features to this mall including a Mall Mini Game, Feature Exhibits that are educational and entertainment based and catagorical search capabilities that will allow the consumer to display the results of their search into a corridor of the mall.
The response to the creation of this mall has been nothing less than positive. Although there has been some very good points made in the previous comments on this page, as to cost variance on products, this is not due to the fact that the mall is virtual. As the old saying goes "Do not judge a book by it's cover". Weather a mall is virtual or not does not decide the functions within the mall, the creator does. Because I agree that pricing is the most important factor of successful retailing, I am marketing uwalkthemall.com to businesses and major companies with competitive pricing. I will provide consumers with a virtual mall that competes with current e-commerce sites along with allot of added fun and viewing pleasure. What more could the consumer ask for?
Posted by: Karen Servis | December 14, 2006 5:44 PM
I was a little dismayed to see this out here, as my colleagues and I are in the process of launching, what I thought, was a brand new technology in Popwebcity.com/vmall.
Although, somewhat similiar, it is more of a marketing venue in that the vendors receieve a lot of advertising for a very small amount per month.
In addition our version of this, Popwebcity.com/vmall is a way for the small guy to get into the international market.
What do you guys think?
Posted by: Matt | December 14, 2006 7:45 PM
There is another newcomer to the virtual reality mall scene and due to launch internationally in January 2007. It is being marketed under the name of POPWEB CITY and is touted as the "video game for shoppers". I read about it on the website www.virtualmediaconsulting.com and as a New Zealander, where many people do buy online, this concept will go down extremely well over here, provided the marketing price is affordable. I emailed the contact address on the site and was delighted to receive back a very informative email which detailed some other developments and I think you will find this site will not only provide an innovative and interactive method for people to buy online but it offers much more than I have come across so far and will become as much about education as it will about buying online.
Posted by: Ann Smith | December 14, 2006 7:56 PM
Spal said: "Yes, this kind of thing works. A popular algorithm used today in computational linguistic, also it is the main algorithm in modern day search engine is SVD (Singular Value Decomposition)"
thanks for that...much appreciated
Posted by: robb | December 16, 2006 2:48 PM
Hi Guys thanks for your feedback I wouldn’t argue with any of you as you are all correct…(We have been developing the software for themallplus). I agree that themallplus isn’t the full 3D experience like POPwebcity or uwalkthemall or any of those, (which look really good) and it isn’t a price bargain system like Amazon which is another very successful formula. We believe that there are other factors that motivate sales which we are more focused on. There are several things we wanted to achieve with themallplus.com,
1 To give a shopper the feeling they are inside a branded shop to provide a strong association with the products being sold. People in the real world may pay $100 more for a t-shirt because they buy it from a boutique rather than a similar one from a discount store.
2 To give people a sense of space rather than a 3D experience. My experience of the 3d is as a game and enjoying the ride where as our target market isn’t for gamers or geeks, rather people who want to easily find stuff. We want to have enough 3D to let people experience space and location rather than a full game experience.
3 We are using Flash because it is ubiquitous and loads quicker than full 3D but slower than an HTML site, however after the first visit people will find it loads quicker as it will cache on their system
4 The user can explore more products because we can display more products on a screen compared to a standard HTML page presentation
5 We are working on the next release of the software to include user avatars where shoppers can see themselves shopping with their friends, to bring in the social networking aspect.
We appreciate any of your thoughts and feed back and good luck to you other developers working on other 3d Shopping malls.
Posted by: Mike Hodges | December 20, 2006 2:47 PM
The person who develops a piece of software that allows a real virtual mall to run over the internet without swallowing bandwidth, without installing non-standard apps (especially difficult to convince most non-tech users and all business users), which plugs directly into and is verified by security companies such as Verisign and Visa, etc, which does not load slowly, or reload every time the user hits a new area, which allows the user to speak with/interact with other users, which really looks and 'feels' like a real world or virtual mall, and which adds value to a shopping experience online will be the killer app.
At the moment, the only virtual world making money (real money) not just for the owners/purveyors of the virtual world but also for the members/companies on that world is 'Second Life' and even they have to deal in virtual money 'Linden Dollars' not real money.
Fact - Virtual Shopping which is quick, painless, non-link or hardware intensive, that worked, and was secure would be the REAL 'Web 2.0' killer app.
Fact - We are far away from anything remotely close to a solution.
Flash, VRML, own-software plugins all are cute, but not real solutions to this problem.
For a solution to catch fire it would have to be independent of all of these snags. And secure.
If a bank will use it, so will the retailers and online purchasing customers.
Just like the hydrogen engine for cars, someone has to really throw some time and money at this to come up with a solution.
At the moment it is not worth anyone's time or money.
Bill Gates making a come back anytime soon? :)
Posted by: Emerson Freedman | December 28, 2006 12:30 PM
I think it's a great idea - aside from the fact that it's really hard to use at the moment (despite, being in Telecoms "ultra fast testzone" for their new lines). But... one of these days, the virtualy mall will come to fruition.
In the meantime we have started our own mall (very much non 3D), but quick to use! www.grizzlynut.co.nz is where you can find it - with over 1800 online shops for New Zealand.
Shirlene
Posted by: Shirlene | January 9, 2007 1:47 AM