Augmented reality (AR) is not a new technology, having been around for 30 years or so, but Covid-19 has seen it being used more and more. At the beginning of the first lockdown many people memorably passed the time by using AR to add a tiger into their living room!
According to Statista, the market for AR technology is growing, with projections for 2023 valuing it at over 18 billion U.S. dollars.
Many people confuse the term AR with virtual reality (VR). In VR, people ‘enter’ a virtual word using a headset or similar. The world they arrive in is fabricated and nothing like reality. In AR, users are seeing the actual world around them using, with fabricated images – such as the tiger – layered over reality.
Many people will have experienced how AR works while out catching Pokemon in their local area, using the Pokemon Go game. This uses mobile devices with GPS to locate and capture Pokemon, which appear as if they are in the player’s real-world location.
Another use of AR which many of us are familiar with is Snapchat filters – where a user takes a photo of themselves and the app adds an additional layered image on top, such as rabbit ears or glasses.
Interestingly, Covid-19 not only brought tigers into our homes but also helped people using Zoom or Teams to appear to be sitting on a palm-fringed beach or standing on a pavement in Las Vegas… These backdrops, which saved users the embarrassment of an untidy lounge or less than studious book-shelf, are one example of AR.
In addition, anyone visiting the make-up section of a high street store will have noticed that all the tester lipsticks, for instance, disappeared immediately lockdown happened – for obvious reasons. Many quick-thinking cosmetic brands added a link, usually a QR code, to their displays which allowed somebody to use their smartphone camera and see what they look like in the different lipstick shades.
With people less likely to be out shopping – something which will continue for a while yet – many businesses are looking at how they can incorporate AR into their websites, to help consumers select products which suit themselves or, indeed, their homes. Already, fashion and homeware retailers – from ASOS to IKEA - are utilising AR to help consumers make their purchase with the technology allowing potential consumers see – as far as possible – what they will look like in a particular item.
The IKEA Place app takes a picture of your living room. The app automatically measures the space, then it provides recommendations on furniture that fits in the space. It allows a user to sync up everything between the website and their devices.
While AR is revolutionising how apps work, we are a little way off seeing its full potential through websites but it could very likely be ‘the next big thing’.
If you’d like explore this subject more, then do get in touch with our team at Lake Solutions.