Vodafone and Disney have partnered up to debut the Neo kids smart watch. The watch will be sold in European markets as part of the ‘Designed and Connected by Vodafone’ collection offering peace of mind through an embedded SIM card and GPS. It also features famous Disney characters from a range of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel franchises.

With the product not yet on the shelves, Vodafone turned to WebAR to let customers try out the Neo smart watch virtually. Created by Spark Lab and powered by 8th Wall, the WebAR experience gives customers the ability to get up close with the product and even use some of its features to help them with their buying decision.

By clicking on a call to action in Vodafone’s email marketing, customers are brought to the web-based augmented reality experience where they can try the watch out with no app required. After selecting from one of five famous Disney characters for the watch face and from one of two colors for the watch strap, a high quality rendering of the watch appears before them in their physical space. Once placed, customers are able to turn the watch around to see it from all angles, change the strap color and go deeper into the technical details of the device. 

While in augmented reality, customers are also able to try out features of the watch by swiping on the watch face and selecting an app by tapping on an icon. Tapping on the pre-set numbers on the watch, for example, causes a virtual phone to appear to make a call, while tapping on the weather icon triggers the watch face character to introduce the weather in a whimsical manner. Other apps on the watch such as the calendar and photos have hot spots which explain these features.

After spending some time with the watch in AR, customers can pre-register for the watch within the experience which will notify them when the watch will be available for purchase later this year.

⌚ Try the Neo kids smart watch yourself by tapping this link.