Whittley Future Model VR Hub announced for SCIBS as industry's first consumer VR and AR experience
by Alan Whittley 14 May 2024 13:21 PDT
Whittley Future Model VR Hub © Alan Whittley
Whittley Marine Group, Australia's leading fibreglass trailer boat builder and retailer, has chosen the 2024 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show to launch its innovative Whittley Future Model VR Hub.
The Future Model VR Hub will enable consumers to explore augmented reality (AR) and conceptualise new model boats from the Whittley Design Studio via virtual reality (VR) headsets. Empowering interested parties with insights into future Whittley model concept boats as well as the build and design processes. In addition to the Future Model VR Hub, eight Whittley Boats will be showcased at Australia's largest boating event at the Sanctuary Cove Marina Village.
Alan Whittley, Director of Sales & Marketing at Whittley Marine Group, expressed his thoughts on the new VR Hub experience with excitement. "The Future Model VR Hub at this year's show, through the latest AR tools and VR headsets, enables a new model concept Whittley boat to appear transparent and show all the features throughout the boat. Consumers have an advanced view of the inner workings and features of new models not offered previously. You can be inside the boat and move through it as if you were physically in it! Customers can even experience new future model concepts in a short on-water sea trial environment via their VR headset; what a fantastic advancement for our industry! Members of Australia's leading new boat design studio, with in the Whittley Factory in Melbourne will be present to conduct the VR tours thru out the duration of the show."
Customised VR sessions at the Future Model VR Hub last around fifteen minutes, with a Whittley Design Studio team member moving through and interacting with new model concepts in VR with members of the public. This will be the first time this technology has been displayed at an Australian Boat Show and used in the local marine industry. Interested parties attending the show wishing to experience this one-of-a-kind VR walkthrough and have demonstrated to them new model concepts from the Whittley Design Studio. Are welcome to book a set time here, with sessions limited and needing to be booked in advance, for this experience at this year's show.
Mr. Whittley continued, "Will a VR experience in a dealership replace an on-water demonstration of the product? You don't get the wind in your hair experience, but it's close and complements a physical on-water drive or walk thru. The Whittley VR experience allows the public to experience new models on the horizon before their physical launch, empowering consumers and providing valuable feedback before final production commences. In addition to walking through future Whittley design prototypes, the public also gains an insight into the construction of Whittley Boats and can see how the internals of a boat are constructed. As well as being exposed briefly to how Whittley Marine Group lead the industry in its design process and new model development. The advantage of this emerging technology is limitless; it will be interesting to see how consumers react!"
The Future Model VR Hub concept on display at this year's Sanctuary Cove Boat Show is the first step for the Whittley Marine Group VR experiment, with the experience to be rolled out through Whittley dealerships nationally via a new in-dealership ready customer experience that delivers a 360-degree virtual reality experience for a new model before its physical launch later in the year.
"In the last ten years, there has been a dramatic change in how consumers shop for new boats, focusing on meeting consumers where they are and obtaining information on potential purchases online. Building on this, the more consumers can immerse themselves in a product online, the more excited and informed they are when they walk into a Whittley dealership. VR and AR are changing the marine industry for the better; it is an exciting time for the company to be at the forefront of this change and demonstrate these advancements to the industry and the boating public. Let's keep watching this technology roll out from the Whittley Marine Group into the future. This is only the tip of the iceberg of what is to come." Mr. Whittley said.
The Future Model VR Hub launched at the boat show this year is only a tiny insight into how VR and AR technology, which is being used by the Whittley Marine Group across the design and manufacturing, retail and eventually even servicing functions of the Group. Whittley Marine Group is excited for consumers to have access to the new Whittley In-Dealership VR Experience into the future and additional online VR assets to move through at any location they desire twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, giving a whole new meaning to the try-before-you-buy theory!
Mr Whittley finished by saying, "Just as the Whittley Company has led the industry in recent years through its factory-owned dealership purchasing model and changed the way consumers buy new boats, now is the opportunity to demonstrate the company's investment in its future and show the public the exciting new generation of boat designs coming from the Group. It is also the first time VR has been on display in the marine industry in Australia. It is an exciting technology that the company remains at the forefront of globally, and it is electrifying to see how it will change the boating industry. We look forward to integrating this technology into how we offer new model release experiences to consumers as we embark on the most aggressive new model development program in the Group's history, with new models set for release late in the 2024 year."
Explore Whittley Marine Group's wide range of boats and the Whittley Future Model VR Hub at the 2024 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show at stand SLF 1.3 from Thursday 23rd to Sunday the 26th of May, at the Sanctuary Cove Marina Village.
To book a private VR experience in the Future VR Hub, please visit here or phone Laurie Jackson at Whittley Queensland on 0409 830 078 to make a booking.