In truth, the answer is probably 'no', but Apple nevertheless filed a patent in 2006 titled 'Enhancing Online Shopping Atmosphere', which appears to describe a virtual 3D retail environment selling books, music and electronics. There's some really interesting stuff going on with the avatars, as indicated by Apple's patent, too.
For example, shoppers’ avatars might be customised with big letters, with ‘N’ indicating a new user, ‘E’ indicating an expert, and ‘H’ indicating a helper/salesperson. Staff’s avatars may have additional nametags: “for example, visitors may be encouraged to ‘ask me about jazz music’ or ‘ask me about photo software’.” Meanwhile, avatars might also display icons indicating their preferred genres of music or books, or their age.
There might also be geolocation data tied in with the avatars, allowing visitors to see who’s from their home state / country by looking at other users’ avatars. The filing gives an example of how this may be used, in relation to a potential user:
“Alice can specify to limit the activity she is shown… to one particular geographic area or set of areas. For example, suppose Alice lives in a rural area. She could specify that she only wants to see activity from visitors visiting from San Francisco and/or New York City. Alice can thus have the shopping experience of being in a “cool” and trendy locale without leaving her home. Similarly, if Alice wants a homier experience, she could limit the activity she is shown by limiting it to her county.”
It’s fascinating stuff, even if it never turns into an actual (virtual) store. Have a look here.
(via Mashable)
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