Lowe's turns to virtual reality for home improvement

Lowe's turns to virtual reality for home improvement

Matt McFarland

March 7, 2017. 9:07 AM ET

link : http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/07/technology/lowes-virtual-reality/index.html

Lowe's is betting virtual reality can help with your latest project around the house.

Lowe's : 로우스 는 미국의 주택 개량/개선 용품 및 기기 소매점 체인 업체이다. 

The home improvement giant is launching a virtual reality experience in one of its stores to give customers hands-on practice with a home improvement project. Lowe's may eventually create more VR tutorials and roll them out to more locations.

*hands-on : (주로 명사 앞에 씀)(말만 하지 않고)직접 해보는

Initially, customers at a Massachusetts store will get a lesson in how to tile a bathroom. A customer will put on a VR headset, be placed in a virtual room, and use an HTC Vive hand controller to simulate mixing mortar and placing tile. Eventually, a broader range of tutorials may be offered in all Lowe's stores. 

*a lesson in : ~을 가르침(give/teach a lesson[lessons] in ~

*HTC Vive : 가상현실 HMD기기와, 이를 개발하는 회사의 명칭(더보기)

*mortar : 모르타르, 회반죽

*broad : (폭이)넓은

*a broader range of ~ : 다양하고 폭넓은

In a trial run, Lowe's found that customers had a 36% better recall of how to complete the project when compared with people who watched a YouTube how-to video.

*recall : 기억해내다, 기억(하는 능력)

Kyle Nel, the director of Lowe's Innovation labs, told CNNTech about the advantages of VR as a teaching medium. He pointed to the tactile, immersive nature of virtual realty as allowing for better learning.

*tactile : 촉각[촉감]의, 촉각을 이용한

*immersive : (컴퓨터 시스템이나 영상이 사용자를)에워싸는 듯한

Nel noted the limitations of offering in-store clinics taught by an employee. Such classes have to be given at set times, which may be inconvenient for customers. The virtual reality experience is available anytime the store is open.

*note : ~에 주목[주의]하다, (중요하거나 흥미로운 것을)언급하다

*in-store : 매장내의

*at the set time : 규정된 시간에

"Virtual reality just happens to be the best way to give people what they want, when they want it," Nel said. "This is meant to be available to the entire country and Canada, not just those on the bleeding, cutting edge of tech."

*be meant to + R : ~하기로 되어있다, ~할 예정이다

The VR experience also lends itself to improvement. Lowe's will monitor customers and see where they may be getting stuck. Improvements in the teaching process can be made. If Lowe's scales the experience to all of its stores, updates to the teaching process could be made overnight.

*lend itself to something : ~에 적합하다

Lowe's trends team has found that millennials are forgoing DIY projects because they lack home improvement confidence and the free time for a project. For Lowe's, virtual reality might be a way to reverse that trend.

*millennials : 밀레니얼 세대(1980~2000년대 사이에 태어난 세대)

*forgo : (하고, 갖고 싶은 것을)포기하다