Trailblazing an Augmented Future

Augmented Reality (AR) is changing how we see the world. Unlike Virtual Reality (VR), which constructs a universe beyond the one that we know - AR focuses on enhancing the real world that we already experience. With AR, digitally crafted automations serve to make life more efficient or captivating on a day to day basis.

AR throughout time 

AR has historically been utilized in a variety of contexts, from an office environment to the theater. The opportunities for augmenting reality are endless. In 1994, a production titled Dancing In Cyberspace opened. It featured performers jumping and dancing around virtually constructed objects. The combination of the ‘real world’ (the dancers) with the constructed elements (the objects) encapsulated the difference between AR and VR. 

Jumping forward, in 2014 Google released the controversial Google Glass headset which many of us have tried and briefly enjoyed. The glasses provided wearable AR where users could scroll through their social media posts and surf the web while walking around and interacting with the world. It provided a commercially accessible way to integrate AR into daily life for pleasure. 

It’s not all fun and games though - AR wearables increase efficiency, too. The Google Glass has been used by factory workers to organize their tasks and view instructions in real time, as they perform their jobs of assembling or building products. Wearable AR hasn’t broken the mould of everyday life as much as it should have, though, as the price points are often inaccessible for the average consumer. 

Google Glass introduced the Glass Enterprise Edition 2, which was specifically created to help those in the workplace. It has a sturdier design with a more advanced camera capability, allowing first person streaming to share the progress of a task with another member of a team. 

A more widely penetrating version of AR is the Niantic game, Pokemon Go. The application allows the user to walk around capturing footage of the world through their phone camera, searching for Pokemon characters that pop up on the screen to collect. Pokemon Go has in some cases been credited for making people more active by encouraging them to go outside and hunt for elusive characters.  This AR powered phenomenon has generated almost $800 million in two years. 

AR in transition

An AR industry that is rapidly developing is the travel sector. There are a myriad of opportunities to utilize AR in various aspects of the travel experience. A 360 viewing tour of hotel rooms and amenities could incentivize travellers to make more reservations or upgrade to higher priced suites. Google translate also incorporates elements of AR in their tool Word Lens to capture signage in foreign languages, which then translates the information into your native tongue. Attractions and parks are all in for it too. The technology is touted by Bob Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney as the future of guest relations and customer service. He has stated that he prefers AR to VR usage in the various Disney parks because it is “more sociable and communicative.” 

The food industry is starting to catch on as well, with apps like Kabaq launching to show patrons 3D constructions of various delectables directly from the menu. This removes the nasty element of surprise when ordering a dish you have never tried before. 

Beauty retail giant Sephora has utilized AR with the Visual Artist app that allows consumers to ‘try on’ various makeup products - this enables customers to find their shade of product at home and also serves as a learning platform, offering tutorials and tips that are projected directly onto the face through the front facing phone camera. 

The print industry has also begun to embrace AR, with W Magazine recently launching an optimized cover featuring Katy Perry. When the cover is scanned with a phone camera into a compatible app, the image becomes 3D with aspects of it becoming clickable to deliver hidden messages from the artist to the fans. 

Standard Chartered has recently developed AR optimized t-shirts, which are scannable into a dedicated native app to reveal the life stories and personal details of the members of Liverpool Football Club - offering fans an exclusive behind the scenes experience, allowing them to feel closer than ever to their favorite football stars. 

Where does AR advance from here? 

It is abundantly clear that AR optimization is offering a host of advantages and streamlining efficiency for a plethora of sectors and businesses. The innovation of AR and VR technologies is allowing us to create a mixed reality - where we can incorporate the efficiency of technology into the mundanities of everyday life. It will revolutionize our communication, information intake and output, and introduce a booming expansive industry of developers and technicians. 

This begs the question - how do we, dealing specifically with AR, ensure that we strike an equilibrium between the real and the constructed world to create a mixed reality that is beneficial? The technology can be immersive which increases the challenge of remaining grounded in lived reality beyond augmentations. In the Science and Medical fields for example this can turn out to be a game changer, and as it enables new surgical procedures it could possibly even help augmenting life expectancy. As more industries get exposed to these technology advances, it would be interesting to see how both consumers and businesses adopt it. With more than 1 billion users of AR being projected by 2020, the augmented future looks promising.