Augmented Reality technology trends and how to master them

The world of augmented and virtual reality is exploding. New territory seems to be explored every day, and the potential for business growth is staggering. There are serious players investing billions into developing these technologies.

 

Augmented reality in particular is presenting opportunities for businesses. While consumer-facing services are getting the most air-time, there are plenty of back-end and B2B applications as well.

 

The tech is beginning to make its shift from the early adopters to the mainstream. Let’s explore the latest trends and how you can create opportunity.

 

Quick definitions

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are sometimes confused. The two technologies are similar but have key differences. Augmented reality (AR) changes or enhances reality with digital content. Virtual reality (VR) is immersive and creates completely digital experiences. While both have excellent business applications, we’re focusing on AR in this article.

 

Trend: Storytelling

Brands are constantly trying to engage their customers by using storytelling. AR is proving to connect with people emotionally in a stronger fashion than TV can, so imagine how a strategic, relevant AR campaign could connect a customer to your brand. Facebook has invested heavily in Oculus, and the combined pull of social media and AR could be exceptionally powerful.

 

Trend: B2B visualization

If you’re an architect or an artist, it can be difficult to describe a vision to a client. Using AR can supplement the sketches and data, bringing something to life, in scale, size and color. Use it to illustrate potential, or make an idea tangible and accessible. The technology can be used for all sorts of creative industries including advertising, branding and digital design.

 

Trend: Shopping from home

If you’ve ever tried to visualize how a new piece of furniture would look in your home, you’ve experienced a need that home improvement stores like Lowes (US) are trying to fill with AR. Working with Google’s Tango AR tech, their app allows customers to place potential purchases in situ to test their suitability. You could easily explore bringing something similar to market to help make purchasing decisions easier.

 

Trend: Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless technology

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the ever-expanding network of household items that connect to each other through the internet. This boom in wireless connectivity is catching up to the Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) that traditionally accompany AR and VR experiences.

 

While the HMDs are a while away from being described as minimalist or fashionable enough for daily wear, the freedom to untether from a PC opens up countless doors.

 

How could your business capitalize on this hands free, immersive mobile AR technology? It could easily translate as a tool to assist, visualize or understand, or in the leisure space as commercially available gaming add-ons.

 

Trend: Competitive spaces

Competitions, world records – everything is up for grabs as the technology is so new. Is there room for competitive AR experiences? It’s already here in the form of Pokémon Go. Again, this powerful combination of community building, competition and immersive experiences is coming to the forefront. There is plenty of room for innovators to capitalize on these new growth spaces.

 

If you’re business is interested in capitalizing on the creative potential of AR, contact the creative team at Visual Caffeine to see how we can help.

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