The public's supermarket shopping skills are in demand for New Zealand's first virtual supermarket research project.
Volunteers are needed to give feedback on a study that is looking at purchase choices - comparing a real supermarket with a virtual supermarket.
"We're looking for regular grocery shoppers who have access to
the internet and an email address," says research leader, Dr Wilma Waterlander. "They can do the study from home."
Wilma is the creator of the first virtual supermarket, done for her doctoral research in the Netherlands. Now in New Zealand, at The University of Auckland's School of Population Health, Dr Waterlander is working on development of another unique software application, the New Zealand Virtual Supermarket, for the National Institute of Health Innovation.
"This software is a three-dimensional computer simulation of a real New Zealand supermarket," she says. "Once the software is fully tested, we can do experiments such as the impact of food prices and food labelling."
