Augmented reality is not a sci-fi concept anymore. Many people have already expired it via their smartphones in the past. And AR is already of use in every bit of our everyday life. In order to be short, we would like to talk only about some of them, those ones which will change our lives most of all.
Table of Contents
Shopping Experience:
The largest revolution augmented reality would make to the Commerce industry. No matter what it is, retail or eCommerce – AR would open new horizons for both of them. Soon customers and owners would take augmented reality as common and necessary things and wonder how people could shop before without it.
Customers would look or even demand AR experience:
- Visualization of a product in real environment or on yourself would make online shopping a bit less risky.
- Shopping catalogues will receive a new dimension, as any page can contain scannable content with a 3D model of any item or event.
- Customers may receive additional information by scanning store items in order to make a wiser purchase decision.
- In-store items may become interactive and customizable via AR features.
Owners will get a new highly competitive tool for their business:
- Providing online items will reduce return rate.
- Augmented reality events may highly increase the in-store time of visitors.
- Even now, some of customers prefer shopping with AR to those without it.
- Moreover, some clients are ready to pay more for items supported by AR features.
The success of IKEA AR app, as well as its sequel, IKEA Place (and tons of apps of the same sort), proves eCommerce can get a great use of augmented reality technology. At the same time, many retail Brands that are already running their own mobile apps enchase it with AR features.
So, in the end, this innovation is useful for both sides.
Navigation:
Whatever you do, walk on your feet, drive your own car, or even fly by plane – AR can enhance navigation experience of everything you do. Even on the current level AR technology can accurate analyzing the depth of surrounding world and provide the latest information to the user.
While you wander, navigation in big or foreign cities can be a pretty hard quest. In the past, it required using a map and hiring a guide, but AR would change the way you explore the world. So-called AR Browsers allow receiving information about everything around you by simply looking through your smartphone camera. It is future of travel apps.
- See guidelines.
- Digital route lines.
- More information about places of interest.
- See where restaurants, hostels, hotels, museums, etc. are, and see their review.
In case of driving, AR can greatly enhance information a driver may receive. Some of the high-end cars are already running with display features attached to the windshield, while others require AR-glasses. In any case, technology can support a driver with:
- All common in-cars display information like current speed, fuel-storage, etc.
- Distance to objects.
- GPS navigator routes.
Entertainment:
Augmented reality finds a huge acceptance among dozens of players around the world. Pokemon Go has become a strong example of an upcoming new trend in the game industry. However, successful AR game doesn’t end with a single example. Other AR mobile games like Ingress or Father.IO are less famous but still build a large fan base around themselves.
But what is the most exciting element in these types of games? Some gameplay concerts push people to explore the real world in order to receive some game experience. Others change common environment, like your living room, into fantasy battlefield with dozens of tiny creatures fighting with each other under your command.
Today AR game experience can be received not just by special AR accessories, like Oculus Rift or Magic Leap glasses, but also via smartphones. But as soon as technology allows, we may experience hologram games and hologram movies.
Education:
Education can receive significant benefits from using augmented reality technology for its own needs. But let’s be more consistent.
AR suits children’s education apps very much. Children may be easily involved into learning process if they find out it is fun. Some gaming features, a few interactions, storytelling, and characters may interest pupils into learning science basics.
Students will receive a unique tool for better understanding some complex or abstract science concepts. Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Anatomy – are pretty hard to learn without a deep understanding and good visualization of their concepts. AR can provide all required tools to students.
In the end, augmented reality provides a greater chance in manual practice in fields connected with great risk and consequence of mistakes. That skill may be hard to gain in the real world, but augmented reality can imitate the whole process to make it closer to reality experience.
Summary:
AR has already fought its way into our everyday life. What’s more important, the major part of it doesn’t require any special devices, and the cost of augmented reality gradually becomes more affordable. Modern smartphones and tablets support it well. So, unlike virtual reality, AR can be easily integrated into any of our everyday activities.
However, the active usage of universal devices as modern smartphones and tables just supports its expansion and paves the way for specific AR accessories with more advanced augmented reality content. It is just a matter of time while AR is becoming a common thing like fast internet connection, cheap mobile calls, GPS and Wi-Fi. And as well as all those things, we even don’t note how much it changed our lives.
About the Author:Alex Volski is working over 10 years in software engineering, and passion for mobile and augmented reality development. Since 2011 a product manager at ThinkMobiles, now sharing experience and assisting ambitious new business projects.
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