Amazon is bringing its seamless automated grocery store to New York

Imagine a world where artificial intelligence tracks your every movement. A world where buildings have minds of their own, learning your behaviors, and collecting data from you as you come and go. While existing technology has not yet reached sci-fi levels, a visit to an Amazon Go grocery store can offer you a peek into this possible future of retail

Walmart is using virtual reality to train employees

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is being applied to a broad range of applications, from architectural rendering to medical training. Now, retail giant Walmart is introducing the use of Oculus GO headsets to upgrade training at outlets across the country. Walmart plans to ship four of the headsets to every Walmart Supercenter, and two headsets to

Wattpad’s Crowdsourced Authorship Is Getting Attention

FutureVision is R/GA’s trend-spotting division. FutureVision helps keep you connected with the latest information, making it easy for you to stay informed. Sometimes referred to as the “YouTube for stories,” Wattpad, the 10-year-old Toronto-based digital-literature social-networking app for amateur writers, has helped authors snag book deals with major publishers. One author, Anna Todd, got a combined seven

Waymo faces tech hurdles as self-driving taxi deadline looms

As the technology propelling autonomous vehicles lurches forward, car companies have been struggling to make the leap between fundamental research and a marketable product. After an Uber test car struck and killed a woman in March of this year, the ride-sharing company abruptly shut down their self-driving program in Arizona. Now Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company that had pledged it would launch a fleet

Responsive Virtual Reality Has Promising Marketing Implications

FutureVision is R/GA’s trend-spotting division. FutureVision helps keep you connected with the latest information, making it easy for you to stay informed. This cute and simple interactive narrative is underpinned by complex technology. Described by Google as a “mobile movie theater,” Spotlight Stories combines 3D and 2D animation with 360-degree spherical video. The app also uses

AutoX launches a self-driving grocery delivery service in San Jose

From Amazon Go to Walmart’s Alphabot, grocery retail is being significantly disrupted by the fast-evolving technologies of automation and artificial intelligence. Now, startup AutoX is launching an autonomous vehicle delivery service directly to households. While other companies such as Nuro and Marble are designing and operating autonomous vehicles specifically for delivery, AutoX is utilizing preexisting

Amazon Go opens a second retail location

Amazon’s march forward into brick-and-mortar retail continues with the opening of a second Amazon Go store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Marion Street in Downtown Seattle. The store operates on the same high-tech principles as the Amazon Go pilot store that opened in January. With the installed Amazon Go smartphone app, customers swipe

Getting Personal With AI

FutureVision is R/GA’s trend-spotting division. FutureVision helps keep you connected with the latest information, making it easy for you to stay informed. Science fiction likes to show us a world where technology is so pervasive, it completely transforms our lives, for better or worse. Star Wars; Minority Report; I, Robot—all of these films feature sophisticated artificially

Office Depot rolls out a new shared workspace

Last week, Office Depot opened its first co-working space, dubbed the Workonomy Hub. The first location of this service is located in the chain’s supply store in Los Gatos, California. The American office supply company owns approximately 1,400 locations servicing just under 30 million customers. According to Propmodo, Office Depot is offering their new co-working

Walmart announces the pilot automation of its grocery pickup service

On August 6th, Walmart announced the pilot launch of Alphabot, an automation system that will assist employees in filling online grocery orders. The rollout is a result of a two-year collaboration with retailing startup Alert Innovation. Walmart is testing the automated grocery pickup at its supercenter in Salem, New Hampshire. The new warehouse and grocery

Lowe’s is testing the use of VR and AR as a means to boost commercial sales

To compete with online retailers, brick-and-mortar retailers are turning towards augmented and virtual reality tools to attract consumers. Lowe’s Innovation Labs is experimenting with virtual and augmented reality to boost retail sales. Programs such as Holoroom How-To and Holoroom Test Drive allow users to visualize and experience products prior to purchase. The Innovation Labs are