What’s NewCreate an Avatar in Your Image!
OmniDate has released a new feature that will allow users to create avatars in their own image! Users can simply upload a photo and the software automatically converts the image into a 3D character. Mark Brooks, Editor of Online Personals Watch, has described it as "the killer app".
New Look & Feel for OmniDate
OmniDate has improved its virtual dating UI and made it even more intuitive...
Over the last 15 years, the online dating industry has succeeded superbly in legitimizing the activity of online dating. Today, most people believe that singles have a better chance of meeting someone online than at a singles bar (Ipsos-Reid, 2008). Tens of millions of people come to dating sites every month in search of a mate (e.g., ComScore).
The next phase in the evolution of the online dating industry is focusing on improving the quality of user experience. Most singles - particularly women - who are looking for a meaningful relationship still find the online dating experience to be unnatural, uncomfortable and not very intuitive. Only 1 out of 4 users report being "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with online personals sites (Jupiter Research, 2005) and many are concerned about the safety of online dating (PEW, 2006).
According to the revered Scientific American magazine, virtual dating is the next generation of online dating. Virtual dating helps people get to know each other in a fun and safe online environment (e.g., a virtual cafe or a bar) before meeting face-to-face. It facilitates the early discovery process and helps singles uncover areas of mutual interest and commonality, so that when they meet in person they are no longer meeting a complete stranger.
"It was like I already had the first date online and got the awkwardness out of the way," said Weisz, who had for years used other online dating sites. "It helped me feel really comfortable when we actually met, in a way that I wasn’t with other dating sites" (Indiana Gazette, 2008).
Research conducted by Harvard University shows that virtual dating improves the online dating experience and the likelihood of establishing a successful relationship in real life (e.g., Frost et al., 2008). For example, singles who go on virtual dates first, tend to have a greater affinity for each other and more successful face-to-face dates.
More about Effectiveness of virtual dating ...
Virtual dating provides an addictive experience and increases member interaction. According to Alexa.com and Compete.com, leading providers of Internet metrics, an average visitor spends more time on a virtual dating site than on some of the top dating sites, such as Lavalife. Women in particular are drawn to virtual dating, as evidenced by higher proportion of female users as compared to traditional dating sites.
"The virtual dating experience is surprisingly intimate, which helps explain the relative success of virtual dating compared with the major dating sites" (Discovery Channel, 2009).
From the dating site's perspective, providing its members with a virtual dating application helps achieve key business objectives, such as increasing member conversion and retention.
More about Engagement of virtual dating ...
Dating companies across North America and Europe are adding a virtual dating feature and taking their online dating service to the next level.
You too can plug in our virtual dating application into your dating site and transform it from traditional to state-of-the-art. The integration process is quick and easy and can be completed in a matter of hours. Simply drop in the code provided and you're done. Contact us for more information or to request a personal demo.
More about Adding virtual dating to your site...
