Augmented Reality is the finest way of superimposing digital information over the physical world. It was first introduced in 1990 where its fist commercial uses were in the military and television industry. Though it was in its initial phases, its second wave rolled out with increasing internet adoption by smartphones. The 3D models are directly being fused together
in real-time smartphone apps, thereby impacting social life, their habits, and the entertainment industry.
The AR got each individual’s attention by the release of the Pokemon Go wave in 2016. Its concept was to offer some excitement and engagement related to its amazing applications and thus it got all the attention. This enabled many giants to build interfaces and apps which employed AR. For instance, Snapchat, Google Translate, Pepsi, and TikTok.
Smartphones are the strong physical bridge between Marketers and Customers
The power of smartphones and growing internet infrastructure will trigger information-rich experiences in the real world which will turn Augmented Reality into a powerful marketing tool. The adoption of this technology will provide detailed information to the customer’s needs as they will be able to scan surroundings in search of discounts, nearby restaurants with maximum accuracy.
Augmented Reality and SEO dots connected by Content
Google, Yahoo, Bing all the major search engines employ primary search results techniques as organized search. By the continuous growth of AR, the website content will soon be indexed, crawled, and shall be ranked higher for AR-based content by visual search. Offline advertising, digital search, physical locations, and product photos will be soon searched through AR which will further employ this into the company’s content marketing strategies.
Content marketers are investing in visual content such as images, videos, and infographics and adding AR tech which will further take various forms such as social sharing, video, or 3D objects.
The adaption of newer technology boosts its associated sibling into the industry
E-Commerce shall be the most positively impacted market by the increased adoption of AR. Imagine virtually trying out sunshades of a brand or shoes for that case without the bustle and hustle of actually trying from one shop to another. With the adoption of this technology, E-commerce will be able to gain more powerful feedback and insights from their customers. For instance, brands like Converse and Adidas have already tested this technology which helped them in higher conversion rates but got fewer returns as customers got satisfied abouts its curiosity.
The rise and fall of Blippar
Blippar, the London based company was an early trailblazer catching the advancement of AR in the consumer realm. It was focussed mostly on the marketers, the idea being the customer holds their phone to brand’s packaging for unlocking games and other goodies. In the intervening years, the company iterated this basic concept with various campaigns and brands.
In 2014, the company launched a new platform for Google Glass, enabling the developers to create AR games that analyze user’s eyes for controlling games. Over the time the company completely reimagined the versions of its flagship app and basically morphed the visual search engine giving information of pointing a phone at almost anything in the physical world. They invested heavily into the most demanded technologies such as machine learning, computer vision, facial recognition, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
The company didn’t stop trying to evolve by getting its feet in different applications, embraced with all the latest technologies but somehow didn’t able to find its target market as the customers from almost all the applications in the early stages didn’t find the basic need of using their platform. Blippar was early pioneer its time in the era where the industry is still accessing the need-based interesting propositions of the AR. It reported losses of US$ 43 Mn in FY 2017 which was US$ 10 Mn more than FY 2016 forcing the company to pull its plug.
What’s ahead for Augmented Reality
The smartphones have already become an integral part of our lives that might as well it shall be an extension of our bodies. The AR has gone from pipeline to reality in just over two decades. However, the concept will shoot universally when the UX designers will integrate AR with daily life to improve efficiency, productivity, and quality of experiences.
Amongst numerous applications, the recent outbreak of the Corona Virus may provide AR exponential growth in the next few years. It can help in analyzing surfaces or providing information about the surface purity by pointing phones over the surface. The smartphones infused with sensors will certainly help in providing information of the body such as glass
surface, door handles or maybe people by scanning the environment to the user with the help of Augmented Reality.