What is augmented reality

Just like the words suggest, augmented reality is a reality that has been augmented with interactive artificial elements. The most popular AR apps these days are used on smartphones to display digitally augmented reality: users may activate a smartphone’s camera, observe the actual world around them on the screen, and count on an AR application to improve that environment in a variety of ways via digital overlays:

  • Images, digital data, and/or 3D models are superimposed.
  • Including real-time navigation
  • Putting labels in
  • Color alterations
  • Using “filters” on Instagram, Snapchat, and other applications to change the look of the person or their surroundings.

AR may be displayed on a variety of devices, and the list is growing: screens, glasses, portable and mobile devices, and head-mounted displays.

It’s crucial to know what AR isn’t before you can grasp what it is.

AR, unlike virtual reality, does not provide a fully immersive experience (VR). While virtual reality needs users to put on special headgear and enter a purely digital environment, augmented reality allows them to interact with the physical world around them.

Applications of AR

So, what is the current application of augmented reality? Way more than just assisting individuals in tracking down pocket monsters. In reality, virtually every business will have identified ways to use AR technology to enhance outcomes and processes by 2022. Typical applications include:

  • For years, augmented reality has been used to improve entertainment.
  • AR components are now used in dozens of different games. The success of games is unsurprising, given gaming was the first clear use for AR and VR capabilities that many people noticed.
  • Training and education: Dynamic, AR-based tutorials enable users to learn new skills more quickly and simply than traditional techniques (like instruction manuals). As wearable technology such as AR-powered smart glasses, AR contacts, and AR headsets become more commonly available, the potential for augmented reality training will be enormous.
  • Marketing: These days, augmented reality applications allow you to try on or test out a range of items before purchasing. Prior to the epidemic, these offers were a method to improve and make life simpler for busy customers. They’ve now enabled a variety of brands to sell to clients who are limited to their residences. Applications of AR for eCommerce are on their way to becoming the standard.

Smartphones now enable the majority of these AR experiences. However, the advancement of more complex AR devices might pave the way for many more uses.

AR’s benefits are rapidly spreading to new industries, including education, manufacturing, healthcare, and utilities.

Augmented reality has the capacity to boost many areas of the customer experience, even when that encounter takes place within the constraints of the client’s home. It mixes the actual and virtual worlds in real-time, with all of the visual possibilities of in-person purchasing and all of the convenience of being at home.

In an age of greater reliance on eCommerce, this implies that augmented reality (AR) is a strong visualization tool that organizations across sectors can use to better their consumer interactions and, ultimately, their bottom lines.