Adobe Systems Inc. is betting that retailers, and consumers, will embrace advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) tools. Meanwhile, tech giant Oracle Corp. recently released a survey that suggests retailers need to be careful about how they leverage the data they gather about their customers.

Adobe last week rolled out a number of new AI, VR and internet of things products for retailers and marketers at its Adobe Summit 2017 digital marketing conference in Las Vegas. AI uses “intelligence” to achieve a specific objective despite not being programmed for every obstacle it may encounter. It then uses what it learns to improve its results over time. VR is a technology that typically uses headsets to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that replicate an environment or setting. VR also simulates a user’s physical presence in that environment. The internet of things includes physical objects (things) that contain web-connected embedded technology to sense or interact with their internal state or external environment.

One new Adobe product is a tool store retailers can use to gather data on how consumers interact with items in physical locations. For instance, by placing sensors on its products, an apparel store could learn that an item is generating heavy foot traffic and release more variations and promotions to serve customer demand.

Adobe also launched a voice assistant that uses Amazon.com Inc.’s recently-announced Alexa open APIs to take a customer’s data and preferences and provide recommendations on products she may be interested in buying, visiting or seeing. For example, consumers could ask Alexa for their rewards status for a hotel chain or airline and Alexa could then use customer profile data and preferences to recommend activities that take advantage of those rewards points.

“Interactions with interfaces such as Amazon Alexa are currently transactional and anonymous, where users receive information on general topics such as movie show times or playlists,” Adobe writes. “This project takes core Adobe Experience Cloud technologies and Amazon’s open APIs to create a more intelligent and personalized assistant.” Amazon is No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide.

Both products employ machine learning tool Adobe Sensei, which uses artificial intelligence, as well as Adobe’s massive volume of content and data assets.

At the show, Adobe also announced it is testing personalized VR advertisements. For example, a consumer wearing a VR headset in the middle of New York’s Times Square might view personalized content on virtual billboards surrounding them based on what Adobe knows about the shopper and what she might be interested in.

Other projects unveiled at Adobe Summit include:

• Intelligent website personalization: Using Adobe Sensei’s AI technology, this enables Adobe to make recommendations about website layout and content. A travel website, for example, could input retirees as its target audience. Using Adobe Sensei, the site could then mine the brand’s digital assets to recommend the most effective layout and brand assets for that group of consumers.
• Geo-based audience targeting: This will allow brands with a physical presence to tap into location technologies and engage nearby consumers with relevant content and promotions. For example, a fast food chain could identify groups of opted-in users that have displayed purchase intent by engaging with the brand’s mobile app. Adobe Sensei’s technology could then group users by location, allowing merchants to serve up promotions to drive nearby consumers into the restaurant.

Meanwhile, a new recently released Oracle Corp. examines how consumers feel about retail technologies that use their personal data to make decisions on their behalf. For example, 64% of respondents liked the option of using virtual reality to navigate a personalized in-store experience and having a hand-picked wardrobe to try on in a store.

The survey, which polled 709 consumers in January, also finds:

• 58% of consumers have a positive attitude toward having their grocer suggest a shopping list for their approval based on purchase history, social and environmental data.
• 54% of respondents feel it would be invasive for a grocer automatically charge and ship items based on purchase history, social and environmental data.
• 67% of consumers liked the option of fast delivery to their doorstep by drones.
• 64% of consumers responded favorably to the concept of a retailer suggesting a custom-made accessory for them produced with 3D printing.
• 57% of consumers found apparel recommendations from robots based on their social media profiles invasive.
• 54% of respondents liked the concept of linking their wearable activity tracker to their pharmacy and receiving suggested products to meet specific health and wellness needs.
• 78% wanted access to detailed information about product components (such as cotton or spandex) and their origin prior to purchase.
• 46% of respondents said receiving real-time alerts on current product recalls, and time since last recall by a manufacturer, based on previous purchase history would improve their experience.