Augmented and virtual reality in apparel industry: a bibliometric review and future research agenda

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of the present study is to synthesize the extant literature on augmented reality and virtual reality in the apparel industry using bibliometric and network visualization techniques. This paper also highlights the existing gaps in the literature and sets out the future research trajectory. Design/methodology/approach This study investigated research articles in the domain of augmented and virtual reality in the apparel industry to assess global trends in research production in this area, and top contributors to research by way of authors, journals, countries and institutions. The study carried out an analysis of 239 research articles from the Scopus database during the period 1995 to 2021. The study used open-source bibliometric tools such as Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to analyze the research literature over the search period and also identify emerging research avenues. Findings The bibliometric analysis reveals that there is significant interest in this research domain. A total of 673 authors contributed to the 239 research articles analyzed and the number of multi-author documents exceeded those by single authors. Research in this domain is led by China with the maximum number of articles in the data set followed by the USA and France. However, the USA has received the highest number of citations. Donghua University from China is the largest contributor to research in this domain with 13 articles in the data set. The keyword co-occurrence analysis indicates that “virtual reality” has the most number of co-occurrences and linkages with other keywords. Other important keywords include “augmented reality,” “virtual try-on” and “cloth simulation.” The network visualization exercise also revealed significant collaboration between different countries in this research domain. Practical implications The gaps highlighted in this study will act as a reference point for researchers to conduct future studies in the field of augmented and virtual reality in apparel industry. Practitioners will also gain a comprehensive understanding of this research domain. Originality/value This study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first attempt to integrate the disjoint literature of augmented and virtual reality in apparel industry through a mapping of the intellectual structure of this research domain. The study also contributes by way of providing a snapshot of future research avenues in the knowledge domain of augmented and virtual reality in the apparel industry.

The Intersection of Fashion, Immersive Technology, and Sustainability: A Literature Review

“…Several papers highlighted how immersive technologies would be applied to assist with sustainability goals at multiple points of the fashion chain (for example, [67,73]). These papers and articles tended to give a broad overview of innovative technology applications in the industry and include two literature reviews: definitions of digital fashion [90] and AR and VR in the apparel industry [28].…”

“…The fashion industry is responding to this rise in interest in new immersive technologies in a myriad of ways which are explored further in this review. The fashion industry is manoeuvering towards a future where people live more of their lives in digital environments, with some examples being: gamification and connecting with gaming platforms [26]; digital fashion for virtual platforms and the metaverse [27]; and using these technologies to provide better customer experience when shopping virtually [28].…”

Consumption Behaviour of Poor Consumers: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis

“…To address the research questions, the bibliometric analysis was employed as attention to the consumption pattern of poor consumers has gained contemplation by the scholars. Bibliometrics includes an extensive series of techniques: citation analysis, author co-citation analysis, document co-citation analysis, word tree-map, keyword co-occurrence, co-word analysis, textual analysis, corresponding country analysis and relevant sources (Goel, Mahadevan, et al, 2022;Pandey & Joshi 2021). It maps the investigated indicators in the interesting research areas (Goel, Sharma, et al, 2021), charts the knowledge structure (Kumar et al, 2019), and invokes new ideas and thoughts.…”

“…We have used Gephi, VOSviewer and R Studio software packages for bibliometric analysis, which are freely accessible software packages. These software packages furnish comprehensive data analysis because of their high degree of flexibility and adjustment of input from the Scopus database (Goel, Mahadevan, et al, 2022). CSV file of Scopus Output and bibliographic information is used as input in the data source.…”

Evaluating Students’ Acceptance Intention of Augmented Reality in Automation Systems Using the Technology Acceptance Model

“…Meanwhile, Makris et al introduced an augmented reality system to assist operators in collaborative human-robot assembly tasks [31]. Furthermore, augmented reality also finds application beyond operator support, as evidenced by Goel et al, who employed bibliometric and network visualization techniques to synthesize augmented reality and virtual reality applications in the apparel industry [32].…”