Methods, systems, and computer-readable storage media that may be used to generate a virtual reality simulation of a shopping environment are provided. One method includes generating one or more smart objects from a set of simulation data describing the shopping environment. The method further includes generating the virtual reality simulation that includes the one or more smart objects and presenting the virtual reality simulation to the simulation participant on a virtual reality display platform. The virtual reality display platform includes one or more touch screen display devices. The method further includes, each time the participant touches the one or more touch screen display devices on an area in which one of the smart objects is displayed, generating a touching record indicating that the participant touched the respective one of the smart objects. The method further includes storing each generated touching record in a memory.