Augmented Reality provider London Dynamics raises £1m | TechMarketView

Retail focused Augmented Reality (AR) provider London Dynamics has raised £1m in seed funding from angel investors to help develop its product visualisation platform.

We first looked at London Dynamics back in January last year when they joined forces with Capita’s scale-up development unit Capita Scaling Partner (CSP) – see Capita bets on Augmented Reality for retail. The firm is the brainchild of Michael Valdsgaard, formerly long-term head of Ikea’s digital transformation programme. London Dynamics is a Dutch, UK based scale-up, looking to use Augmented Reality (AR) to shake up the retail market with a proposition that has already signed up several impressive clients.

The technology is designed to drive engagement in online shopping environments with an AR solution that crucially does not require an ‘app’ to be downloaded, working straight from the website even in relatively low bandwidth environments. High-end consumer goods such as Bremont Watches are already using the tool to showcase their products with life-like 3D models designed to drive brand engagement and ultimately conversion with a ‘try-before-you-buy’ experience. Other good examples include the ability to shop online for furniture and then place it accurately within the context of your own home all via a smartphone.

Whilst the metaverse might be more hype than reality for now, attention is shifting to the deployment of more mature and pragmatic technologies such VR and AR. The struggle for brand engagement and loyalty in the digital retail environment will drive demand for customer experience and personalisation of which Augmented Reality will no doubt have a significant role to play.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 12:27