DigitasLBi Crafts Gesture-Based Retail Experience for Sprint

By Erik Oster 

How do you take attention away from the fact that you were recently declared the worst cellular network in a consumer report? If you’re Sprint, apparently you get agency DigitasLBi to work with you to create a gesture-based, interactive retail experience. Because that’s the future: being able to shop online without having to use a pesky mouse and keyboard. But where to unveil such a creation? What is an event where people would see the Sprint name and not know any better?

Sprint will unveil the new “Shop. Hands Free. In 3D.” experience during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week in Las Vegas, tomorrow, Dec. 6. This follows on the success of the pilot unveiling, during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race weekends at the Chicagoland in Septmber, and Kansas Speedways in October. NASCAR fans seemed pleased with the Sprint’s new magical technology, as evidenced in the above video.

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So how does it work? Well, according to the announce, “…users move their hands through the air above a Leap Motion controller, which displays their actions onto a large screen ahead.” But wait, that’s not all. There’s a podium. A branded podium. To appeal to Nascar fans, DigitasLBi created “an eye-catching branded podium to house the technology.” Those who tried out the shopping experience then “supply their email addresses to receive their picture from the virtual photo booth as well as a link to the items they browsed.” Combining technology used in next-gen gaming with a theme park-esque photo service, that’s their strategy, because Sprint is “more than just a wireless company,” according to Sprint Program Manager Lane Allison.

Perhaps I’m being a bit hard on Sprint. After all “Shop. Hands Free. In 3D.” is sort of an intriguing prospect, if only for the novelty value. It’s just that this does absolutely nothing to repair Sprint’s damaged reputation. Since most people now view Sprint as something of  a joke, maybe that’s what they should be working on. Or maybe Sprint is just for NASCAR fans now.

 

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