virtual reality

Virtual reality (VR) technologies have excited brands looking to create unique, engaging experiences for customers. Learn how brands are successfully using VR and how to avoid falling into the trap of “cool, but no ROI.”

Discover how Forrester supports customer experience and IT professionals.

Insights

Blog

Very Human Takeaways From An AI Event

Phyllis Davidson December 20, 2023
Learn key takeaways from the 2023 Berkeley Business Analytics & AI Summit, which had the theme of “Analytics, AI, and Society: Towards a Wiser World?”
Blog

It’s 2050 And Your Website Is Deserted: Why?

Julie Ask November 1, 2023
Websites will play a less prominent role in future consumer digital experiences for three core reasons: The digital touchpoint landscape will be far more fragmented. The number of digital touchpoints used by consumers is proliferating. Browsers are just one of many channels. The number of connected devices we use continues to grow. Web and apps […]

Forrester Decisions For Digital Business & Strategy

Let us guide you to the next level of digital excellence. Drive growth, build powerhouse teams, quash disruptors.

Blog

Predictions 2024: Retailers Will Need To Brace For A Tough 2024

Sucharita Kodali October 25, 2023
As retailers gear up for 2024, they must confront an array of challenges, from theft and culture wars to the adoption of new technologies such as AR, VR, and genAI. Despite the challenges, the retailers that rise to the occasion and make the right strategic decisions will position themselves for success.
Blog

The Industrial Metaverse Is A Good Idea That Needs A Better Name

Paul Miller August 22, 2023
The industrial metaverse doesn’t exist yet, but many of its building blocks do — and already connect physical and digital experiences to deliver value in asset-intensive industries like manufacturing.
Blog

WWDC 2023 — What It Means For Developers

Andrew Cornwall June 6, 2023
As has been the trend in recent years, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2023) keynote has kept its focus centered on consumers — read about that here. Announcements for enterprises were thin — watchOS 10 gets mobile device management support, Safari gets passkeys and profiles to keep work and home tabs separate … and […]
Blog

Google I/O 2023: If You Remove AI, What’s Left?

Andrew Cornwall May 18, 2023
Google I/O, Google’s annual product showcase, displayed a very strong AI focus this year. We saw little new hardware, and even with Google’s “add AI to all the things” strategy, most improvements were incremental, not groundbreaking. If you haven’t already, read Google I/O 2023: As Far As The AI Can See to get up to speed […]
Blog

XR Glasses (i.e., Headsets) For Consumers — Just Another Screen? Or More?

Julie Ask April 3, 2023
The conversation around extended reality (XR) headsets comes and goes frequently — and is peaking again now. The story arc of these conversations has been similar for at least a decade (though we seem to have collective amnesia). First, they’re positioned as the next “must-have” consumer electronics device (think Neil Stephenson’s 1992 “Snow Crash” vision […]
Blog

The Metaverse Doesn’t Exist Yet — So How Do You Develop For It?

Andrew Cornwall November 9, 2022
Experienced developers know the situation too well: An executive comes by with an idea, and it’s up to us to act on it. If a C-level has recently dropped by your office to say, “We ought to be looking into this metaverse thing,” you’re in for an adventure. Bringing a company up to speed when […]
Blog

Meta Connect 2022: My Take On Its Consumer-Focused VR, Avatar, And Metaverse Announcements

Julie Ask October 13, 2022
Meta hosted its Meta Connect event virtually on October 11. Here are a few key announcements and my analysis from a consumer perspective.
Blog

Show Me The Metaverse

Martha Bennett September 22, 2022
Learn how the future viability of the metaverse depends on these four key emerging technologies.
Blog

Metaverse-Like Experiences: Is Novelty Enough? A Look At ESPN’s Fifty/50 World

Julie Ask July 8, 2022
ESPN Edge built the interactive, 3D environment Fifty/50 World to celebrate 50 years of Title IX. Learn what a Gen X consumer — and a sophisticated 13-year-old user of online 3D immersive gaming and entertainment platforms — thought of the experience.
Blog

The Metaverse Must Be Deeply Human-Centric

David Truog June 7, 2022
At Augmented World Expo 2022, amid the existential debate about the metaverse, there was an increased focus on ensuring its UX is humane, and communal.
Podcast

Marketing And The Metaverse

What It Means May 5, 2022
Is the metaverse your ticket to marketing innovation or a quagmire into which marketing dollars will sink, never to be seen again? What is the metaverse, anyway? Join VP, Research Director Mike Proulx and VP, Principal Analyst Julie Ask as they explore what the metaverse means for marketers.
Blog

Beyond The Cartoonish Metaverse — XR Designers And Users Deserve Better

David Truog April 28, 2022
XR designers cut corners because of the limitations of headsets but XR streaming from the cloud could liberate them.
Blog

Jekyll And Hyde: The Dual Role Of Emerging Technologies In Sustainability

Abhijit Sunil April 20, 2022
The dual roles of eight popular emerging technologies and explains how to use them to advance environmental sustainability goals.
Video

There Is No Metaverse Today, But Be Prepared

Mike Proulx March 29, 2022

Blog

The Metaverse Is Born — Now It Needs To Grow Up

David Truog November 15, 2021
At AWE 2021 last week it was clear that companies working on AR and VR experiences must refocus from tech to people.
Blog

NFTs Are Having A Bromance With US Males

Mike Proulx November 4, 2021
State Farm is jumping onto the NFT bandwagon with a football-themed treasure hunt running November 4–7. The insurance company is just the latest of a quickly growing list of brands experimenting with nonfungible tokens since they started gaining marketers’ attention back in March with the launch of NBA Top Shot. That same month, NFTs officially […]
Blog

Consumers Aren’t Ready For The Metaverse Yet

Mike Proulx September 21, 2021
In its current state, the metaverse is prime (virtual) real-estate for brands looking to make press headlines, test and learn, and reach a subset of the Gen Z audience. Brands that expect a revenue-based ROI from their metaverse custom media buys will be sorely disappointed.
Blog

Europe Predictions 2021: Manufacturers Will Accelerate Their Digital Transformations

Pascal Matzke October 15, 2020
In 2021, European manufacturers will leverage emerging technology to accelerate the digital transformation efforts.
More posts