=Paper= {{Paper |id=Vol-3812/paper8 |storemode=property |title=Product visualization in configurators: laying the foundations for a comparative description |pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3812/paper8.pdf |volume=Vol-3812 |authors=Andrea Petterle,Enrico Sandrin,Cipriano Forza |dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/confws/PetterleSF24 }} ==Product visualization in configurators: laying the foundations for a comparative description== https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3812/paper8.pdf
                                Product visualization in configurators: laying the
                                foundations for a comparative description⋆
                                Andrea Petterle1,†, Enrico Sandrin1,∗,† and Cipriano Forza1,†
                                1
                                    University of Padova, Stradella San Nicola 3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy



                                                   Abstract
                                                   Visualization plays a critical role in the purchasing process, particularly for customized products, as
                                                   it improves customer engagement and decision-making. Despite the importance of product
                                                   configurators in presenting customized products, there is limited research on the characteristics of
                                                   visualization modes that configurators employ. This study aims to address this gap by developing an
                                                   evaluation framework consisting of 11 descriptive variables: embodiment, presence, interactivity,
                                                   authenticity, realism, media richness, avatar similarity, functional control, visual control, interaction
                                                   richness, and vividness. Each variable of the framework is defined and exemplified by practical
                                                   examples. These variables, derived from the literature on e-commerce and customer experience, offer
                                                   a structured framework to describe and compare product visualization modes in configurators.

                                                   Keywords
                                                   configurator, product visualization, virtual reality, augmented reality1



                                1. Introduction                                                     information hermetic and tedious. This is an example of
                                                                                                    why highly valuable work without visualization can be
                                Visualization is a crucial element in the purchasing                difficult to understand, even for experts in the same
                                process, especially for customized products. The                    field, not to mention professionals from other scientific
                                configuration process demands effort from the customer              areas [3]. In the case of customized products, the variant
                                but ultimately strengthens their bond with the product.             may be novel and difficult to understand to the
                                According to Di et al. [1: 550], images enhance attention,          customer, thus the use of visualization may reduce the
                                trust, and conversion rates in the purchasing process.              cognitive complexity borne by the customer at the stage
                                More images provide a more complete visual                          of selecting the most suitable configuration to satisfy
                                representation of the product, which is effective in                his/her needs.
                                boosting sales. Interactive and visually appealing                       Visualization     technologies    are    undergoing
                                configurators help customers make informed decisions                significant advancements. For example, Apple's Vision
                                aligned with their expectations. Thus, visualization may            Pro revolutionizes visual representation by projecting
                                reduce choice complexity and improve consumer                       high-resolution output directly into the eyes, controlled
                                benefits from customization.                                        by eye tracking and gestures, eliminating traditional
                                    Effective visualization is a powerful tool for                  peripherals such as mouse and keyboards [5]. Advanced
                                knowledge transfer and assimilation, having been used               visualization methods such as augmented reality (AR),
                                since ancient times [2, 3, 4]. The transfer and                     virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) are
                                assimilation of visual knowledge is simpler and faster              becoming more and more widespread. The AR, VR, and
                                than that of textual knowledge [3, 4]. The textual                  MR market was valued at approximately $26 billion in
                                representation of a system of relationships through, for            2021 and is expected to reach $242 billion by 2028 [6].
                                example, a table may also be extremely accurate, but the            Consumer trends indicate that 71% would shop more
                                absence of visualization makes the passage of                       frequently using AR, 61% prefer AR-equipped stores,


                                ConfWS'24: 26th International Workshop on Configuration, Sep 2–3,        0009-0000-0041-0112 (A. Petterle);
                                2024, Girona, Spain                                                      0000-0001-9170-0683 (E. Sandrin);
                                *
                                  Corresponding author.                                                  0000-0003-4583-2962 (C. Forza)
                                †
                                  These authors contributed equally.                                                © 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under
                                                                                                                    Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
                                   andrea.petterle@studenti.unipd.it (A. Petterle);
                                   enrico.sandrin@unipd.it (E. Sandrin);
                                   cipriano.forza@unipd.it (C. Forza)




CEUR
                  ceur-ws.org
Workshop      ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
and 55% find that AR makes shopping more enjoyable           of     description:    (technological)      embodiment,
[7].                                                         (psychological) presence, and (behavioral) interactivity.
     An important tool for presenting and selling                Recently, Hsu et al. [11] empirically investigated
customized products is the configurator. However,            how key variables (interactivity, authenticity, vividness,
research on the visualization of configurable products is    product presence, and instant gratification) affect
limited and a comprehensive and comparative                  impulsive purchasing intentions using AR.
description of the various product visualization modes
in configurators is lacking [8].                             3. Framework for visualization
     This research starts to fill this gap by proposing an
evaluation framework composed of 11 descriptive
                                                                 description
variables. These 11 variables, derived from customer         The framework variables are taken from the work of
experience and e-commerce literature, enable a               Zeng and Richardson [9], Flavián et al. [10], and Hsu et
systematic description of the product visualization          al. [11] and the references cited in these papers.
modes that a configurator can adopt. The framework           Furthermore, focused searches of literature on specific
defines the 11 descriptive variables according to the        variables and real applications were performed to clearly
literature and presents examples of their modality. The      define or to exemplify the variables considered in the
proposed framework is designed to evaluate all               present framework. Through this process, 11 key
visualization modes used in product configurators,           variables have been identified:
encompassing both traditional (e.g., 2D and 3D images)
and new modes (e.g., VR, AR, and MR), serving as a               1.    Embodiment
consistent tool for describing and comparing different           2.    Presence
visualization modes in configurators.                            3.    Interactivity
                                                                 4.    Authenticity
2. Theoretical background                                        5.    Realism
                                                                 6.    Media richness
There is a need for comparative descriptions of product          7.    Avatar similarity
visualization modes in configurators. To be able to              8.    Functional control
describe and compare in a structured way these product           9.    Visual control
visualization modes, a framework that includes a set of          10.   Interaction richness
description variables that allow to describe in a                11.   Vividness
structured way the visualization modes is needed. With
the goal of finding the dimensions of the framework              Each variable in the framework is defined and
along which to describe and evaluate visualization           exemplified by practical examples. By integrating and
modes in configurators, the relevant literature was          extending previous works, this framework provides a
searched, although it did not refer to product               more comprehensive set of variables, scientifically
configurators. Three sources [9, 10, 11] and their           justified by its potential to offer a more complete and
references are taken as a starting point for our research.   nuanced understanding of diverse aspects of product
     Zeng and Richardson [9] conducted a review of the       visualization modes for evaluating configurators.
literature on product presentation characteristics in e-
commerce. This literature review synthesizes existing        3.1. Embodiment
research findings, explores key theoretical foundations,
                                                             3.1.1. Definitions
and highlights the predominant research theories and
methodologies employed in the field. It also categorizes     “Ihde [12] regarded embodiment as situations in which
the constructs used to describe the characteristics of       technological devices mediate the user's experience and,
presentation formats, consumer reactions and                 as a consequence, the technology becomes an extension
performance, as well as marketing effects, such as           of the human body and helps to interpret, perceive and
attitudes towards the product and purchase intention.        interact with one's immediate surroundings” [10: 550].
     Flavián et al. [10] discussed the impact of VR, AR,         Technological embodiment involves two important
and MR on the integration of physical and virtual objects,   factors: sensory stimulation [10, 13, 14], i.e., the process
leading to new hybrid customer experiences. They             of activating and responding to the body's senses
highlighted the lack of clear boundaries between these       through received stimuli [13, 14]; and immersion [10, 13,
technologies and experiences, proposing a new                15], i.e., the ability of the technology to allow users to
taxonomy, the ‘EPI Cube,’ to classify current and            better focus on what is in front of them and to extend
potential technologies that enhance customer                 their perception of time; it can have positive effects on
experiences. The ‘EPI Cube’ is based on three dimensions     experience satisfaction [10, 16].
3.1.2. Examples                                               video games [10, 21]. Books and video games allow one
                                                              to identify with the story: in a detective story, one can
Intraocular lenses, which belong to the category of
                                                              identify with the investigator, while in an adventure
devices implanted in the human body, guarantee a
                                                              game, one plays the role of the protagonist directly.
maximum level of embodiment. They are small contact
                                                              Music allows us to abstract from the real world through
lenses that are permanently implanted in the eye in
                                                              lyrics or specific sounds, such as the rhythm in South
order to restore the visual capacity that has been
                                                              American music, which can make us imagine being in
impaired as a result of operations or pathologies
                                                              those faraway places.
affecting this apparatus [17]. Embodiment is maximized
                                                                  Presence can be provoked in a virtual environment
because the user is unaware that he or she is wearing a
                                                              when there is a sense of 'illusion of place' [10, 22].
device, but benefits from countless advantages in daily
                                                              Virtual reality systems, such as visors, can facilitate this
life; in this case, the technology is in complete symbiosis
                                                              factor by providing deep sensory stimulation that is so
with the human body and acts as an extension of it.
                                                              immersive that they can cause a nausea-like disturbance
                                                              related to perceived movement within the device [23].

                                                              3.3. Interactivity
                                                              3.3.1. Definitions
                                                              Interactivity is defined as “the extent to which users can
                                                              participate in modifying the form and content of a
                                                              mediated environment in real time” [24: 84]. It regards
                                                              “the users' capacity to modify and receive feedback to
                                                              their actions in the reality where the experience is taking
                                                              place [25, 26]. […] Interactivity is a behavioral factor in
                                                              that users have the ability to control and manipulate the
                                                              environment that is in front of them [27]” [10: 552].
                                                                  The mechanistic or structuralist approach [28]
Figure 1: Intraocular lens. Photograph: Frank C. Müller       “considers interactivity as the response to the attributes
[Public    domain],     via   Wikimedia     Commons.          of the technology and proposes that it can be enhanced
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hinterkamm           through the development of these technologies” [10:
erlinse_01_(fcm).jpg).                                        552].
                                                                  Interactivity is not a yes/no property: it is a matter
3.2. Presence                                                 of degree. “Degree to which users of a medium can
                                                              manipulate the form or content of the mediated
3.2.1. Definitions                                            environment” [9: 5] [e.g., 18, 29]. In the case of AR, Hsu
Vonkeman et al. [18: 1039] define presence as "the            et al. [11: 5] define interactivity as the “degree to which
degree to which an online product experience appears to       users can choose, browse, and look up product
be unmediated, rather than mediated”. They build upon         information and provide feedback through an AR app
the definition of Waterworth et al. [19], which describe      [24, 30]”.
“presence as a concept that provides the user with the
illusion of nonmediation, is driven by external               3.3.2. Examples
technological sensory cues, and is subjective in nature       The characteristic of interactivity is easily found in the
by focusing on the experience of the user” [18: 1039].        everyday life of each individual; just think of the use of
     Flavián et al. [10: 551] regard presence “as a           a computer or a smartphone, where a multitude of
psychological stage (not related to a specific technology)    interactions take place, consisting of making changes to
and the medium is simply the way to arrive at that stage      the system and receiving feedback on them.
[20]”. They define presence as “the user's sensation of       In virtual reality devices, it turns out that the control of
being transported to a distinct environment outside the       navigation is the basic level of interactivity present;
real human body [13]” [10: 551].                              think of the first prototype ‘Sensorama,’ which played
                                                              short films and multimedia content with the
3.2.2. Examples                                               involvement of multiple senses [31].
Presence is a highly subjective sensation and can                 An internal tool such as the viewer can present both
therefore be evoked in different ways depending on the        levels of interactivity: while watching a film, the device
user in question. This perception can be evoked by            allows viewing in a controlled navigation mode; on the
reading a book, listening to a song, and interacting with     other hand, while playing a video game, using the
joystick and tactile devices (such as suits and gloves),    consumer must have some basic or more detailed idea of
one can modify and monitor the state of the objects         how it looks and how it is used [32].
presented [10, 22]. The same is true for an external tool       In general, a product image that can be considered
such as a computer. When buying a product on Amazon,        authentic is a photograph of it, as it allows the user to
the process is controlled and the consumer simply           see the actual condition and characteristics of the item.
follows the predetermined steps. In contrast, when using    The product configurator of the company Design Italian
a product configurator such as Nike's, the customer is      Shoes [40], thanks to its 3D model animation, allows the
able to manipulate and configure the product as he or       buyer to perceive the displayed article as tangible. Due
she wishes.                                                 to this function, the visual sense processes a concrete
                                                            image of the item to be purchased.
3.4. Authenticity
3.4.1. Definitions
Authenticity is the “degree to which users understand a
product based on their prior consumption experience,
knowledge, or time and space in an AR app
environment” [11: 5]. The concept of authenticity by
Grayson and Martinec [32] is examined in relation to
consumers' evaluation of market offerings. This
approach distinguishes the two types of authenticity:
                                                            Figure 2: Shoe configurator [40]. Screenshot from
   •     Indexical authenticity gives the term              https://www.designitalianshoes.com/apps/zakeke/c
         'authentic' the meaning of describing              /verdi-custom?sku=120A00020106XX_353535, with
         “something that is thought not to be a copy or     permission from DIS - Design Italian Shoes.
         an imitation [33: 400, 34: 157]” [32: 297].
   •     Iconic authenticity gives the term 'authentic'     3.5. Realism
         the meaning of describing “something whose
         physical manifestation resembles something         3.5.1. Definitions
         that is indexically authentic. Authors             “Realism refers to the extent to which one believes the
         sometimes distinguish this sense of                virtual environment is real [41] – the degree to which
         authenticity from indexical authenticity by        one feels the virtual space represents the actual physical
         using phrases such as ‘authentic reproduction’     space” [29: 1055]. It also “refers to the perceived
         or ‘authentic recreation’ [33: 399, 35: 421-422,   correspondence between a technology-mediated
         36: 208]” [32: 297].                               experience and a similar experience not mediated by
                                                            technology [42]” [43: 3].
    Algharabat and Dennis [37: 6] propose the following
definition of “perceived authenticity in a computer-        3.5.2. Examples
mediated environment: Authenticity is a psychological
state in which virtual objects presented in 3D in a         When designing a building, architects take advantage of
computer-mediated environment are perceived as actual       3D virtual environments, software with a high degree of
objects in a sensory way” [37: 6].                          realism, in which physical spaces that do not yet exist
                                                            can be created and experienced [29].
3.4.2. Examples
According to the definition of indexical authenticity,
Jimmy Stewart's handprints in the concrete of
Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles are
considered authentic if they are perceived to be the
actor's original and genuine handprints [32, 38].
According to the description of iconic authenticity,
silver pieces available in a museum gift shop are           Figure 3: Three visual presentations of an apartment
considered authentic because they are believed to bear      [29: 1058]. Reprinted from Computers in Human
remarkable similarities to coins produced by Spanish        Behavior, 29, S. van der Land, A. P. Schouten, F.
colonies in the 16th century [32, 39]. Furthermore, to      Feldberg, B. van den Hooff, M. Huysman, Lost in space?
judge the authenticity of a Victorian-era chair, a          Cognitive fit and cognitive load in 3D virtual
                                                            environments, 1054-1064, Copyright (2013), with
                                                            permission from Elsevier.
    Van der Land et al. [29] state that when the degree      They also lack personalization because they are
of realism of a virtual environment reaches the affinity     delivered to a large audience and it is impossible to get
of the real world, the user is assisted by the technology    feedback.
in the process of making decisions and understanding             Addressed documents, such as letters, express
their concrete problem.                                      written information. They are suitable for presenting
    The 'Street View' feature of Google Maps provides a      personalized content tailored to the individual, thus
realistic visualization of the route or location that the    creating a psychological connection with the reader.
individual is searching for. Thanks to this feature, the     Despite this positive criterion, the feedback is still slow.
user can get an idea of what he or she will be facing in         The telephone call has the ability to provide
the real future, helping to increase safety. Manufacturers   feedback quickly. Interlocutors rely on their own voice,
of in-car navigation assistance devices offer reality        tone, and language skills to convey messages. This type
visualization features that help drivers. For example,       of channel, which uses natural language communication
they provide high-quality images when approaching a          in real time, is quite rich. A rich communication tool
motorway exit or give advice on which lane to take in        facilitates intuition and allows for rapid understanding
situations with complex arterial roads [44].                 of the content presented.
                                                                 The 'face-to-face' conversation is considered to be
3.6. Media richness                                          the form of interaction with the highest level of this
                                                             factor. It allows for a rapid exchange of feedback and the
3.6.1. Definitions
                                                             creation of a direct connection with the interlocutor. The
Media richness regards the “extent to which interface        sender sends multiple signals, making the message
facilitates communication [45]” [9: 5]. “Media can be        comprehensive; the receiver develops empathy more
characterized as high or low in 'richness' based on their    quickly and the content may evoke emotions in him/her.
capacity to facilitate shared meaning” [46: 358].
According to Daft et al. [46], this factor is based on a     3.7. Avatar similarity
combination of four criteria.
                                                             3.7.1. Definitions
   1. Feedback: instant feedback that allows for             The avatar is everyone's technological alter ego and the
      specific questions and corrections during the          digital representation that each user chooses to identify
      interaction;                                           themselves in an online community.
   2. Multiple cues: a range of cues from which a                Avatar similarity is defined “as the perceived
      message can be composed, including physical            similarity between the avatar' s physical appearance and
      presence, body gestures, graphic symbols,              the user's physical appearance; the extent of an avatar's
      numbers, and words;                                    similarity is regarded as the degree of reflection of self-
   3. Language variety: the range of meanings that can       concept" [48: 715]. The construction of this virtual
      be conveyed by language symbols. For example:          element involves the creation of a bond with it, as it is
      numbers convey greater precision than natural          seen as a representation of oneself within the simulated
      language, while the latter helps to convey             environment [48, 49, 50].
      understanding of a wider range of ideas and
      concepts [46, 47];                                     3.7.2. Examples
   4. Personal focus: a message is conveyed more fully
                                                             Suh et al. [48] highlight methods that allow the
      when its communication evokes personal feelings
                                                             generation of an avatar in its likeness. We begin with
      and emotions.
                                                             the production of an avatar that incorporates the feature
3.6.2. Examples                                              of facial similarity. Two production methods are
                                                             presented: a three-dimensional facial scan and the
The following four media channels (unaddressed               selection of a generic face among those proposed, with
documents, addressed documents, telephone, and face-         modifications of the features considered significant. A
to-face) are based on the hierarchy proposed by Daft et      3D scanner makes it possible to obtain the precise shape
al. [46] and are presented in ascending order of media       of the face; during the scan, several high-resolution
richness, from low to high.                                  digital photographs are taken, resulting in a virtual face.
     Examples of unaddressed documents are fliers,           The subject will undoubtedly perceive a closer
bulletins, and standard quantitative reports. They           resemblance to the first process described. In a very
mainly use messages consisting of three signals: graphic     similar way, body similarity has been achieved using
symbols, words, and numbers. They are useful for             three-dimensional body scanning and the use of the
communicating quantifiable information, but they lack        body mass index. Although it is clear that the first
the ability to convey articulated ideas and concepts.        technique gives a better result, it has a number of
limitations, such as the cost of the machine and a                 This factor is particularly noticeable when
difficult detection procedure. The second method               interacting with the graphical representations in online
requires the subject to enter values such as height,           configurators. Ikea's virtual environment allows for an
weight, and age, and to select the body shape that most        extremely detailed visual experience for the consumer
resembles their own from those presented. One hundred          [52]. Once the room has been configured, it is possible
body shapes are included in the database, and the system       to move around the room using the mouse to view any
processes the most suitable according to the data              details.
received; the user can then model the features that he or
she considers most important.                                  3.10. Interaction richness

3.8. Functional control                                        3.10.1. Definitions
                                                               Interaction richness is the “possibility of interaction
3.8.1. Definitions
                                                               with products and seller [53]” [9: 5]. It is also useful to
“Functional control enables consumers to explore and           quote the definition of ComputerLanguage.com [54],
experience different features and functions of products”       where ‘rich interaction’ is described as a beneficial and
[51: 111]. Functional control regards the “manipulation        pleasant user experience when using an electronic
of product functionality to understand how a product           device. It is worth pointing out that the concept of ‘rich’
works [51]” [9: 5].                                            is constantly evolving according to the technologies
                                                               available; in fact, today it means software with a very
3.8.2. Examples                                                intuitive and easy-to-use interface, while in the future it
The functional control enabled by software such as             will be through tools such as automatic assistance and
Shockwave allows consumers to test different attributes        voice recognition.
of products on their computers [51].
                                                               3.10.2. Examples
    An obvious demonstration is online interaction with
some product configurators, such as those for electronic       The experiment by Jahng et al. [53] provides two
watches [51]. As the user adds new features, such as           examples with different levels of interaction richness for
buttons to the item, the cyber product is updated, and its     each of the dimensions mentioned above. The richness
virtual operation mirrors real behavior. Reactions, such       of interaction with the salesperson can be achieved
as the sound produced by pressing a button, can be             through two means of communication: email and an
reproduced by the sound emitted by clicking on the             interface implementing real-time two-way audio and
virtual representation of that particular item.                one-way video. It is clear that the second interaction is
    It is worth mentioning PhET's website for creating         richer because it makes the product presentation more
simulated electrical circuits, as it clearly implements this   effective and the communication support to the
factor. By simply clicking on the various objects              customer more direct.
presented in the interface, it is possible to create an            On the other hand, the richness of the interaction
electrical circuit and simulate it so that the user can        with the product can take the form of a simple static
understand how it works in order to implement it in            image associated with a textual description of the
practice.                                                      specifications, or an interactive three-dimensional test
                                                               of the product features accompanied by an explanation.
3.9. Visual control                                                The effectiveness of the latter is obvious, as it allows
                                                               better manipulation to understand the features and
3.9.1. Definitions
                                                               overall functioning of the product. Banking service sites
“Visual control enables consumers to manipulate Web            such as Fineco offer a feature such as 'live chat'. Live chat
product images, to view products from various angles           is a type of customer service software that allows
and distances” [51: 111]. It regards the “manipulation of      visitors to interact with operators in real time and
product images to understand product looks by moving,          through a chat window [55]. It is clear that effective
rotating and zooming [51]” [9: 5].                             customer service is provided through interactive
                                                               interfaces that allow the user to engage in profitable
3.9.2. Examples                                                communication before and after purchase.
Functionalities such as panning, rotating and zooming a
virtual product image allow the user to enjoy visual           3.11. Vividness
control. The latter, implemented in software such as           3.11.1. Definitions
QuickTime and Flash, allows consumers to manage
visual operations using the mouse and keyboard [51].           “Vividness means the representational richness of a
                                                               mediated environment as defined by its formal features,
that is, the way in which an environment presents              4. Discussion and conclusion
information to the senses” [24: 75]. “Vividness refers to
the abundance of information that an external                  This paper continues the line of research regarding
environment (e.g., AR app) gives to the human senses,          visualization in configurators [e.g., 8, 56]. In particular,
of which perceptual breadth and perceptual depth are           it contributes to that line by distinguishing dimensions
the two primary variables [24]” [11: 4]. “Perceptual           for describing and evaluating product visualization
breadth refers to the extent to which an individual            modes by drawing on literature from e-commerce and
utilizes multiple sensory modalities to perceive               customer experience. Based on literature on e-commerce
information simultaneously” [11: 4]. “Perceptual depth         and customer experience we identified a list of 11
is defined as the measure of both the quantity and             variables that can be used as a framework for describing
quality of information received by the senses” [11: 4].        and evaluating all product visualization modes in
                                                               configurators. Each variable of the framework is defined
3.11.2. Examples                                               and exemplified by practical examples.
                                                                   While this study provides a starting point for
“The quality of the media directly impacts perceptual
                                                               evaluating product visualization modes in configurators,
depth, and more advanced technology (e.g., AR)
                                                               it predominantly draws from the e-commerce domain.
generally has better perceptual depth performance” [11:
                                                               Consequently, certain aspects specifically related to the
4]. Vonkeman et al. [18] present interesting examples of
                                                               VR/AR/MR domain may not be fully captured. For
vividness while investigating the effect of different
                                                               example, in immersive environments, flow, motion
product (in the specific case sunglasses) display formats,
                                                               sickness, dizziness due to avatar similarity, and the
namely: static images, 360-degree rotation tool and
                                                               uncanny valley effect may arise. Future research could
virtual mirror.
                                                               integrate insights from related disciplines, particularly
                                                               those focusing on immersive technologies, to enrich the
                                                               framework or to identify relationships among the
                                                               framework's variables and other relevant outcome
                                                               variables.
                                                                   Additionally, we acknowledge that some of the
                                                               proposed 11 variables may be correlated. However, at
                                                               this stage, there is no empirical or theoretical basis to
                                                               reduce them to a smaller set. We believe it is beneficial
                                                               to present all variables and address potential
                                                               consolidation in future research.
                                                                   Regarding the practical contributions of this study,
Figure 4: Virtual mirror [18: 1046]. Reprinted from            the identified dimensions can serve as valuable tools for
Information & Management, 54, C. Vonkeman, T.                  managers who need to select visualization alternatives
Verhagen, W. van Dolen, Role of local presence in online       and for designers responsible for developing product
impulse buying, 1038-1048, Copyright (2017), with              visualization interfaces in configurators. The proposed
permission from Elsevier.                                      framework, when applied to describe and compare
                                                               different visualization modes, allows the presentation
     The static images are captured by a simple camera
                                                               and comparison of the unique features, advantages, and
and are noninteractive, whereas the 360-degree rotation
                                                               disadvantages of the modes. This detailed description is
tool allows the displays to be rotated by clicking and
                                                               effective for managers and designers who are choosing
dragging the mouse. A webcam captures the
                                                               the most suitable product visualization mode for their
participants' faces and transfers them to the screen via a
                                                               specific context, providing crucial support during the
‘virtual mirror’ application by placing the product on it.
                                                               evaluation process. Additionally, this framework allows
The three presentation modes differ in terms of
                                                               one to systematically compare these visualization
vividness, particularly in terms of depth, i.e., the quality
                                                               modes, simplifying the decision-making process.
of sensory stimulation provided. Static images provide
                                                                    However, the study did not apply these evaluation
fixed visual input and elicit the lowest level, while the
                                                               dimensions to the various visualization modes in
360-degree rotation tool and the 'virtual mirror' provide
                                                               configurators, which would further benefit both
higher levels through real-time manipulation. The latter,
                                                               managers and designers. Therefore, the next step
in particular, through the captured image of the face,
                                                               involves characterizing these visualization modes on the
provides a higher quality of representation, and thus a
                                                               basis of the 11 dimensions that comprise the proposed
higher level of vividness.
                                                               framework. To achieve this, it is necessary to develop
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