Integrating Spatial Tech Solutions to Supercharge Traditional R&D Processes

JTI partnered with Kinemeric to rethink how its global R&D teams explore, test, and refine concepts for next-generation vapor devices. Traditional research methods—focus groups, surveys, and limited physical prototypes—made it hard to understand how potential users actually feel about new product ideas and features in context. JTI needed a way to bring concepts to life earlier, observe real behavior, and capture richer feedback before committing to costly development.

Kinemeric built Enso, a spatial computing platform that transforms early-stage product concepts into immersive, explorable experiences. Using VR headsets and a custom Unity-based pipeline, Enso lets JTI invite participants into a virtual environment where they can see, hold, and interact with vaporizer concepts as if they were real. Users can compare different device forms, test feature variations, navigate on-device interfaces, and experience usage scenarios that would otherwise require fully engineered prototypes.

As participants move through guided sessions, JTI’s R&D teams can observe reactions—where people hesitate, what they notice first, which features they ignore, and how they describe their experience. Enso supports structured tasks, open exploration, and embedded prompts that capture both behavioral and verbal feedback. This combination of qualitative insight and consistent, repeatable scenarios gives researchers a clearer picture of what resonates and why.

With Enso, JTI has extended its traditional R&D toolkit into the spatial computing era. By letting potential users experience vaporizer concepts in immersive 3D—long before they exist in the real world—JTI can identify what works, what doesn’t, and where to focus investment. The result is a more agile, insight-driven development process, powered by a scalable platform that brings user sentiment to the center of product innovation.