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Kimberly-Clark Embraces Virtual Reality

Clipped to the Drawing Board by Susan Decker  

Consumer goods manufacturer Kimberly-Clark has engineered Proprietary Virtual Reality Technology into the new Innovation Design Studio.

The new design center will not only drive innovation, but also help the company become a better partner to consumers and retailers, the manufacturer says.

A visualization room with virtual reality technologies and equipment is at the center of the Innovation Design Studio, which includes a high-tech kiosk called the K-C SmartStation .   Kimberly-Clark will use the new facility to further develop close relationships with customers, so as to evolve and design new, innovative products and concepts.

Further vrtual reality concepts are constantly being developed and new elements added, which then add to the "real world" experience

....click the links to read more

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bill (73) Senior board member | 2007-12-19 14:23:46
anything which gets the customers views and needs across to the manufacturers has got to be a good thing - I used to work for a FMCG company who prided themselves on "customer needs" but by the time the data had come from the customer and went thru' Market Research then Marketing then Design and Development and the Sales people had input then the Engineers had input then Production had input - so the end product could be very different to what the customer actually wanted
Ted () Newbie | 2007-12-19 14:32:32
your story reminds me of the old cartoon about this subject - where a backyard swing goes through numerous design changes as different departments get invoved
Sal () Newbie | 2007-12-19 14:27:41
I must admit that I havn't seen this Smart Station yet- but would be very keen to - If I get the chance - this is definately the way to go and the way this technology is moving - the effects are getting better all the time - it all ties in with our lifestyles - computers, electronic games , interactive media etc
Rennie () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:34:38
yeah, the world evolves and the consumers are a lot more receptive these days to the virtual world than they used to be so it makes sense to get this sort of thing going - KC are a massive company with very deep pockets so I'm sure it will be good
Mel () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:37:56
you can get as much simulation as you like - but it still doesn't beat the real thing - I have my doubts that these market research tools have a lot of value - people tell the researchers what they want to hear - not necessarily what they think
Tess () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:39:36
course the other point is that the results are only as good as the questions and the questions reflect the person(s) putting the questionare or whatever its called together
Mel () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:41:37
good point Tess, I've seen these things before and the reason they're called virtual reality is that they are "virtual" and bear no resemblence to "reality"
Anonymous () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:43:23
the guys developing and putting the technology together have the most fun - but they've sold the concept and I'm sure are getting well paid for it - so good if you can get it...
Sid () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:47:43
I'm an engineer and I've had to work with marketing people and - they are very different and have very different views of the world - no logic or common sense in their world - and so vague - but they seem to get through life - in a happy sort of way - and yes the results of customer surveys were very much infuenced by the way the Marketing department interpreted them
Rog () Newbie | 2007-12-19 16:50:11
when they've finished playing games with the customer research thing - i bet they would make an awsome set up for electronic games - wow factor - yeah
Sal () Newbie | 2007-12-26 04:09:27
not exactly the same - but another example of technology being used in the sales environment - all of these new technologies sort of come under the same umbrella - sort of ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/24/AR2007122400557.html?nav=rss_technology
well...i think its complementary to this article
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Wednesday 19 December, 2007 02:04 PM
 
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