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Macy’s stores in Springfield, Annapolis now have VR furniture shopping

WASHINGTON — Macy’s stores in Springfield, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, now have virtual-reality furniture shopping.

Macy’s has added VR to its furniture departments in several stores, including locations at Springfield Town Center and at Westfield Annapolis Mall.

Customers design their living space and use a VR headset to immerse themselves in the virtual rooms they create.

Macy’s figures customers are more likely to keep the furniture they buy if they can see it in place ahead of time.

Furniture departments in a total of 70 Macy’s stores now have VR in what Macy’s claims is the largest virtual reality rollout in retail history. Macy’s says VR is a practical application that is proven to drive sales.

In three pilot stores, VR furniture sales increased by more than 60 percent compared to non-VR furniture sales, and it cut furniture returns to less than 2 percent.

And since it’s virtual reality, Macy’s can present many more furniture products without the retail space it would otherwise take.

“With Macy’s VR, customers can take a 2D floor plan and transition it to 3D in real time,” said Beck Besecker, co-founder of Marxent, the virtual realty company Macy’s has partnered with. “It is an easy to use application and consumers have a huge selection to choose from.”

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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