UK department store Marks & Spencer and technology company Zyler partnered to deliver an in-store virtual try-on experience. M&S brought the technology to their Oxford Circus and Harrogate branches, where the feature was trialed with clothing brand Jaeger .
The introduction of this technology provides a personalized shopping journey where customers become the model. Shoppers add a head and shoulders photo and basic measurements to see themselves digitally in the Jaeger collection. Sales assistants guide customers through the process and give style advice.
Marks & Spencer pilots Zyler virtual try-on technology CEO of Zyler, Alexander Berend, describes the partnership as “a wonderful opportunity to get customers excited about shopping in-store. Shoppers could see themselves in the entire Jaeger range, including items not in stock at that location, to find the best items for them”. He adds, “We are delighted to be working with such an iconic brand as Marks & Spencer to improve the shopping experience”.
M&S Jaeger Zyler virtual try-on Zyler CEO, Alexander Berend
Visit http://www.zyler.com for more information about Zyler’s virtual try-on offerings.
Inner City Helping Homeless, the non-profit registered charity supporting Ireland’s homeless, is today launching its first ever virtual Santabox Appeal. It is hoped that through this new online platform, the charity can recoup some of the €200,000 worth of fundraising it has already missed out on this year due to the pandemic, and also help ensure essential gifts are delivered to those who need them most this Christmas.
Normally one of the biggest donation-drives for the charity annually, this year’s Santabox Appeal was expected to only take in around 10% of normal donation levels due to current level five restrictions and social distancing requirements. However, Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) has partnered with Expleo, the technology partner for innovative companies, to develop a new digital platform to enable donors to buy a virtual Santabox that will be packed and presented to those in need by a team of socially-distanced elves.
These Santaboxes are filled with essentials such as clothes, toys and toiletries along with a Christmas gift voucher. The contents of the Santaboxes will be tailored specially to the recipient based on gender and age.
The latest Department of Housing homeless figures released in October found that there were 8,656 homeless people in Ireland, made up of 6,073 adults and 2,583 children who are currently living in emergency accommodation.
Brian McLoughlin, Head of Communications and Fundraising at Inner City Helping Homeless said: “We are delighted to launch our Virtual Santabox Appeal with our corporate charity partners Expleo. By bringing our appeal online it will allow people to continue to support our annual appeal from the safety of their own homes.
“The major reduction in footfall nationwide due to COVID-19 restrictions means the difficulties confronting the homeless have become more pronounced. We hope the public will get behind the online appeal which will enable us to provide Santa Boxes to families and individuals in emergency accommodation, on the streets, families in Direct Provision centres as well as those living alone.
“This has been a tough year for everyone; and we endeavour to put a smile on as many faces as possible this Christmas.”
Santa (David Nugent) with Phil Codd, Managing Director, Expleo Ireland and Brian McLoughlin, Head of Communication and Fundraising, Inner City Helping Homeless
Phil Codd, Managing Director of Expleo Ireland said: “We’re delighted to support such a worthy cause by digitally transforming the Santabox fundraising appeal and ensuring Inner City Helping Homeless can carry out their amazing work again this Christmas.
“Through our ‘Rebooting Ireland’ initiative, which was launched earlier this year to help companies to innovate and digitise to continue in business throughout COVID-19, we designed an online platform for ICHH that provides donors with ability to choose who will receive their Santabox, and offers an opportunity to send a personalised Christmas message to the recipient.
“When we first met with ICHH they were concerned that some people may end up going without a Christmas gift this year. We hope that our new platform will help them exceed all previous records for Santaboxes collected and, crucially, provide vital support to those who need it most at this time of year. ”
Donors can pay between €15 and €35 to purchase individual Christmas gifts. More details here.
Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, today announces its global sneak peek at the Poly products working together to deliver a seamless Microsoft Teams Rooms experience.
Poly is embarking on a Poly & Microsoft Collaboration Virtual Roadshow 2020 — a virtual webinar series across Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia, and Asia, where customers will get the chance to learn about the latest, easy to set-up solutions that are powered by Poly MeetingAI. Poly augments the Teams Rooms experience and delivers the same familiar native Microsoft experience underpinned by clever AI.
Taking place throughout June and July, the Poly & Microsoft Collaboration Virtual Roadshow 2020 will feature one of the richest and most complete range of audio and video solutions to drive optimal employee collaboration experiences using Teams.
“Poly is showcasing how businesses can optimise their use of Microsoft Teams. With an end-to-end portfolio of desk phones, headsets, videoconferencing solutions and managed services, Poly brings together one of the world’s strongest product portfolio aimed at enhancing your Teams collaboration,” said Christophe Herrerias, Senior Manager – Alliances Go To Market, Poly.
Poly’s portfolio of solutions brings flexibility to every Teams experience, supporting productive collaboration for everyone:
Create flexible and collaborative meeting spaces:
Poly G10-T, Poly G40-T and Poly G80-T, which will be available later this year, offer audio and video tools that deliver high-quality meeting experiences for users on Microsoft Teams, and give IT managers the ability to easily scale for meeting rooms of all sizes. Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms will begin shipping upon Microsoft Teams certification in the coming months to select regions.
Poly Studio X collaboration bars are purpose-built, integrated solutions that will offer a native Microsoft Teams meeting and calling experience.
Poly Studio, a plug-and play USB video bar, offers clear, high-fidelity stereo audio and dynamic video experiences with group framing and speaker tracking technology.
Poly Trio C60 conference phones are centre of all types of meeting rooms, and the conference phones deliver quality audio and innovative features such as Poly NoiseBlockAI that reduces distracting background noise.
Poly Calisto 7200 has exceptional conferencing performance for huddle rooms.
Optimise the meeting experience for every participant:
Poly CCX series Teams edition desktop phone combines a native Teams solution and premium voice and audio quality so teams can be their most productive in no time.
Poly Voyager 4200 and Poly Voyager 5200 office series can connect to a desk phone, smartphone or computer and have a dedicated Teams button to instantly invoke the Teams app. Audio and visual alerts mean you’ll never miss anything and scheduling a meeting, starting a call or checking your calendar becomes quick and easy.
“Microsoft Teams is a hub for teamwork for millions of workers around the world who use the platform every day to share ideas, create content and collaborate on projects. We are pleased that our partnership with Poly is delivering a wide variety of easy-to-use Teams devices and solutions that offer best-in-class audio and video experiences, helping people get work done,” said Kurt Petersen, General Manager Device and Partner Sales, Microsoft.
Poly solutions offer speed and responsiveness for a native Teams experience and a dedicated Teams button. Features also include Poly HD Voice and Poly MeetingAI.
Contact Poly to attend a virtual session and be one of the first to learn about the portfolio of desk phones, headsets, speakerphones, video bars and Teams Room Solutions.
It’s been weeks since we’ve all been stuck at home, some working from home, some have taken exercise to another level while others are binge-watching everything and anything. We are in need of human connection more than ever and we are in need of experiences, “Unforgettable experiences” to be exact. Why ?..because we are social beings, so the need for doing new things, experimenting and creating unforgettable memories with the people that we love and care about is in our nature.
Unfortunately, activities (indoor and outdoor), meetups, travelling, and other basic human necessities have been temporarily taken away from all of us when COVID-19 began. Knowing the impact of this lockdown and self-quarantine phase on people’s psyche and their need to be social and bond with others, the activities booking platform “ActaFun.com” had a pivot to align with our sudden reality and quickly launched virtual activities, providing us with unique experiences.
What do we mean by virtual activities? – these are activities that users can do from the comfort of their homes while respecting the social distance safety guidelines.
Online Jiujitsu and Self-defence classes by Jaqueline Almeida, every Wednesday (6:30 pm) and Saturday (11 am). This class will teach you useful self-defence and escape techniques improve your muscle memory and to protect you when in a difficult situations https://actafun.com/activity-details/287
Are you a coffee lover that is missing their favourite coffee spot during this quarantine period? We have top quality home brewing coffee classes By Matt Coade – The Best seller Cafe’s head barista https://actafun.com/activity-details/279
Dance, tone up, burn calories and learn some amazing moves for your post quarantine nights out with AfroDance provided by Kareen SK from the Caribbean islands (Dominica/ Guadeloupe). https://actafun.com/activity-details/289
Dave O’Dwyer will be hosting his famous laughter Yoga classes. Besides being easy to do, laughter yoga can help to reduce stress, encourage a more positive outlook, and help you feel more refreshed and energetic, in other words, “its great crack” https://actafun.com/activity-details/284
The activities above have been the most popular ones, there’re are more free and paid online activities like juggling classes, Fitness classes available on Actafun.com
All virtual activities are bookable internationally through ActaFun’s website (ACTAFUN.COM) and their App, with classes taking place on Zoom. Now you can book an experience for you and your friends/family in Spain, Canada, Ghana, New Zealand or anywhere in the world (with Wifi access of course) and have a great laugh with them regardless of where you all are. Use the code “LetsHaveFun” to get 20% off any of their paid virtual activities in this article.
If you have a unique skill or teach a class that you would like to host on ActaFun, send an email to their virtual project manager Andrew@actafun.com.
