Augmented reality leader Reactive Reality continues its international expansion
Reactive Reality, the leading augmented reality (AR) company increasing sales and brand loyalty for fashion e-commerce brands by enabling them to offer virtual fitting rooms to their customers, has announced the opening of a new office in Minato-ku, Tokyo along with the appointment of their Japan Country Manager, Keiichi Iwamoto. This move continues the company’s international expansion, adding to offices in Graz, Austria, and Milpitas, California.
Keiichi Iwamoto will be responsible for establishing Reactive Reality’s growth in the region from the new office in Tokyo. He brings more than 20 years’ experience in sales management functions to the business, having previously held the role of County Manager at ams AG and before that at Actel. At Reactive Reality, he will lead the business in a market where there are significant opportunities for the use of AR technology within the e-commerce space.
The company’s technology transforms conventional fashion product photos into highly accurate AR assets, enabling online shoppers to virtually try clothes onto photorealistic avatars that carefully match their measurements. This in turn gives customers greater confidence in their purchases and allows them to have a lot more fun shopping online, increasing their attachment to the brand and boosting sales revenues per user by up to 500%.
Japan is known for being a world-leader in technology, innovation, and digital consumption; according to Accenture, 83.3 percent of Japan’s 119 million internet users are also active digital buyers. In addition, the country is famed for being a very fashion-conscious society with not only a strong domestic retail market, but also with leading brands such as Uniqlo, ASICS, and Comme des Garçons making significant waves overseas. Despite the size of Japan’s fashion market and the country’s technological advancement, the use of AR technology in its fashion e-commerce industry is still in its infancy, presenting a huge opportunity for Reactive Reality to help brands enhance their e-commerce platforms and enable customers to virtually try clothes onto photo-realistic 3D avatars.
Regarding his recent appointment, Keiichi Iwamoto comments: “I am pleased to be joining Reactive Reality at a point of sustained expansion for the company and at such a pivotal time for online retail owing to the current pandemic. I am confident that the team’s vast experience and expertise in AR technology will make a significant contribution to the Japanese e-commerce space, at a time when perfecting the online shopping experience has never been more important for brands, and look forward to helping develop Reactive Reality’s growth in the country and ensuring a continued and successful presence here.”
Headquartered in Graz, Austria with offices in Milpitas, California and Tokyo, Japan, the team is 60 people strong and growing quickly. The team consists of world-class engineers and scientists with extensive experience in AR, VR and AI. Reactive Reality’s clients include global fashion retailers such as Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, and it is an active partner of Microsoft and the London College of Fashion.
Reactive Reality’s board is made up of business and scientific advisors that are assisting in growing the company. These include John Heugle, the former CEO of ams AG, and director at Google X, the innovation arm of Google; Stefan Thomke, Professor at Harvard Business School; Christian Ramsauer, a former McKinsey consultant and Professor of the Institute of Innovation and Industrial Management, Graz University of Technology; and Karl Fusseis, CEO of AVV, one of the largest technology funds in Austria.