This is a guest post by Jessica Radburn. Jessica Radburn is a seasoned writer who enjoys creating helpful articles and interesting stories. She has worked with several clients across different industries such as advertising, online marketing, technology, healthcare, family matters, and more. She is also an aspiring entrepreneur who is engaged in assisting other aspiring entrepreneurs in finding the best office space for their business.
Check out her company here: http://www.phonetipsandtricks.com/
Augmented Reality (AR) was quite popularized in the past year, thanks to the viral-like success of Niantic's Pokemon Go. The game incorporated real-world environment and added electronically generated Pokemon creatures for players to catch. That is basically the premise of AR, it uses real-world elements and infuse them with digital modifications to make it more interesting for a user. The technology had then been slowly making its way to other modern day uses other than entertainment.
Embed from Getty ImagesAR has bested Virtual Reality (VR) in a way that it has become more interactive for every user. The latter is also more or less restricted to pure entertainment purposes only because, unlike AR which could be used to improve different industries such as:
Marketing and Promotions
Many brands have started to incorporate AR in some of their marketing campaigns and promotional tactics to make the ads more interactive and attractive for customers. One of those is a campaign from leading cosmetic brand, Maybelline, wherein they launched their new line of nail polish through a magazine that allows users to 'try on' the nail polish color through AR technology. The campaign was a hit - with an average engagement rate of 4 minutes and around 10% of readers shared the campaign in Social Media.
Another interesting example is Coca Cola's use of AR tech (in collaboration with Spotify). Some 250ml Coca Cola cans in the UK were imprinted with a Spotify code wherein users can listen to the Top 50 UK songs when they scan the can in front of a smartphone screen.
Healthcare
The medical industry had been revolutionized too with the surge of healthcare apps that can help speed up medical attention and care to patients even when they are still at home. AR technology also introduced new possibilities for people who are working in this field. One example is Vipaar which is a video-based support scheme for surgeons who are from different locations. A lead surgeon projects his/her hands on a display screen to assist a surgeon on site.
Another is a big help for medical students. Instead of always referring to thick and heavy anatomy books, ARnatomy can point to bone structures and parts by running through a skeletal model in front of a screen.
Storytelling
AR technology is also used when it comes to storytelling because it is a more immersive and interactive tool. As of the moment, storytelling is quite connected with marketing and promotions since it is mostly companies and brands who use this feature to tell customer stories and journeys in an effort to engage and communicate with their market more.
Shopping
Another aspect of marketing and promotions via AR tech is the improvement of shopping experience. AR can help shopping more interesting by incorporating product and services information through the screen while the buyer goes around the store. Jura for one has successfully done this technique - allowing customers to try on different watches virtually and compare how they look.
Navigation
AR tech in navigation works similarly to how it does in shopping in a sense that it can scan through a street or certain location and put out information through a screen. It can also help drivers find a certain location more efficiently and can give an estimated distance from one place to another through a more interactive way. It can also locate the nearest cafes or malls for users who are looking for one in a new place.
From those aspects, there's no telling how far could AR tech be used in the upcoming years or so. Since it has huge potentials for navigational use, it may be further applied to improve tourist experience. It can also be used in different fields of study (and in any academic institution in general).
