We started working with FFIND in early 2023. From the beginning, both Takeaway Reality and FFIND knew that we were embarking on a major challenge. No one has ever comprehensively combined market research with virtual reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR). This meant that we were supposed to create another application that is the first in the world.

The entire Takeaway Reality team was incredibly excited about this prospect because creating world’s first’s is where we really shine. Being able to go into the unknown and unlock value for our clients and the industry at large is always a major motivator for us. If you want to check out another project where we also created a “world’s-first” VR app, check out our case study for Kois Center VR. The challenge that creating a comprehensive VR platform for market research posed was that there were no previous code libraries or knowledge that we could pull from the web, or any experts that could help us better understand this.

We needed to “figure it out” on our own. This can sometimes seem very frightening to clients. However, we were extremely lucky to have partnered with FFIND. FFIND has been a leader in the CATI area of market research for years, especially in the EU area and their team has from the very beginning shown that it understands how monumental the challenge we are working towards is. FFIND also has a history of innovation in the industry, having worked on introducing various voice assistant technologies to the industry, as well as leading the way in using technology to optimize their CATI processes.  

As for any project, we believe that a good set-up and scoping is key to producing top-quality results. Just like in life, preparation is half the job! This is why we focused on a comprehensive scoping and design phase where our designers and expert VR consultants collaboratively worked with the FFIND executive team to create a plan which would result in not only the highest quality VR platform in market research, but also optimizing the development process so that we can consistently update the platform with useable products which can be easily understood and used by survey respondents.  

We used design-thinking workshops to understand what our final vision for this product is. After this, we progressed to high-level strategic planning, understanding where we want to get to and the timelines that would be necessary to get to that point.   

After we clearly outlined what our final platform should contain, we broke it down into smaller products which we intended to ship one after the other. In this way, we would not need to wait for the entire vision to be complete in order to start offering our market research services in VR, but could do it through a series of smaller, more agile products.  

This incremental approach proved very useful later on as having multiple products and use cases turned out to be great for diversification of risk as well as a really good way to enter the market.  

The entire plan consisted of 4 major modules, which would all be able to exist as separate products. These were: 

1. Market research panel with quantitative questions. This module allows people from all over the world to answer quantitative market research surveys, and all they need is a VR headset.  

2. Conducting market research in a single physical location. With this module, we are able to conduct market research surveys in locations such as supermarkets and trade shows. This has become a very popular use case as it allows various retailers and companies entertain their customers or attendees by giving them access to beautifully crafted and branded VR environments, while also giving them very useful data from market research surveys. 

3. Qualitative interviews and focus groups. This module allows us to conduct focus groups, product showcases and a variety of qualitative market research in VR. We are able to show participants 3D models, videos or images, have them participate in discussions and select various items from shelves or next to each other. All of this in a multiplayer VR environment, while interacting with other users. 

4. Adding the ability for shelf tests to be conducted in Virtual Reality. Traditional shelf tests are incredibly expensive to create, as they require an entire shopping center to be outfitted with products and then a participant needs to be flown into the physical location to conduct a shelf test. Doing this in virtual reality is much more cost efficient, as well as allowing for more data such as tracking the decision-making process and allowing us to “freeze time” during the shelf test. 

5. Custom admin portal – We created an admin panel where participants and interviewers can easily program and attend surveys, qualitative sessions and structure shelf tests. 

To create all of this, we needed a continuous relationship that is still ongoing and has lasted since June 2023.