Augmented reality (AR) has been around for more than 50 years, but its popularity and use has drastically increased more recently. This technology blends the digital and physical worlds, letting you showcase your products in a hybrid environment.
Businesses in various industries have implemented augmented reality as a way to share their products or services with potential customers. Figuring out whether it’s right for you will depend on your business, customers, and imagination when it comes to incorporating this technology into your company’s customer experience.
What is augmented reality?
Augmented reality is a technology that blends virtual and real elements. It involves an augmented reality device, usually a tablet or smartphone and sometimes specialty AR glasses or AR headsets (for example, the Apple Vision Pro). With these tools, you can use AR to superimpose virtual elements onto an image of the physical world.
How does augmented reality work?
Unlike virtual reality (VR), which involves digital objects in a fully digital environment, augmented reality technology adds digital objects to a real-world environment.
Using cameras and sensors, an AR app can place virtual objects in a user's environment, which the user can then see on the screen of their mobile phone or other AR-enabled device. By overlaying these digital images onto images of real-world settings, augmented reality enables users to see something that doesn’t exist in their actual environment. With so many possibilities, individuals and businesses in many different industries have started using this technology in innovative ways.
Ways to use augmented reality in business
Augmented reality has already made an impact across different enterprises. Here are a few examples of sectors that have embraced the technology:
Retail
One exciting consumer use of AR technology is online shopping. By letting your customers interact with an item and even see what it looks like up close, AR shopping can boost sales.
For example, an augmented reality app can let a consumer see a digital, 3D version of a couch. Even though the customer is not in a physical store, they can see the couch from every angle and even place the digital object in their own physical environment. This is a great way of allowing users to visualize which couch would look best in a specific room.
Or consider a beauty supply shop using retail AR to give a customer the chance to experiment with different color eyeshadow or different hair colors. Enabling your customers to use augmented reality like this to interact with your products from afar could boost your customer engagement.
Repairs
Another way to use augmented reality in business is by deploying the technology for remote maintenance and repair processes. Whether you need to put information into the hands of a trained technician or a consumer, you could use AR tech to place AR overlays, how-to information, and diagrams over real-time images of a product.
This AR usage could give your company the ability to provide remote assistance for repair processes that would otherwise require an on-site customer service representative. For example, a user could point their AR-enabled smartphone at a complicated mechanical product. Then, using augmented reality, they could view how the pieces are supposed to function to diagnose what is not working the way it's supposed to.
Training
For decades, businesses and organizations have been using simulation technology to train employees. AR gives an employee the ability to blend simulations with the physical world, helping to prepare them for real-world scenarios.
A new employee might even receive live training feedback through an AR app while learning how to use a virtual tool in a real-world environment. Or a user might learn how to use a complicated product or tool by viewing virtual detailed instructions while interacting with the object in real life. This could save on in-person training time and allow your employees to learn at their own pace.
Education
Using AR to create interactive lessons is another way your business can mix the personal touch of real-time feedback with efficient remote learning.
Imagine a class of people who are learning about the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. Educational augmented reality could let users view the ruins at different points in time or to see a map of the city when it was inhabited. For those who have AR devices, such as tablets or smartphones, this can be a great way for them to interact with information in a physical space.
Tourism
Augmented reality could be a game changer for tourism-related businesses, and the ability to create personalized experiences using technology may only increase in importance.
This could mean displaying detailed digital information during a self-guided tour or using artificial intelligence to map out a route tailored to a prospective visitor’s interests. Another example would be letting a user view meals from different local restaurants or experience digital versions of different hotel rooms.
Interactive storytelling
AR experiences can be a powerful marketing tool, allowing your company to tell its story. This can boost brand recognition and give potential customers a further way to engage with your business.
In addition to businesses, media organizations have used augmented reality to tell stories, using the technology to overlay newspapers or magazines with moving graphics and video.
Meanwhile, museums have used AR to create guided tours of museum exhibits. As the viewer moves through a room, they can scan QR codes with an AR-enabled device that will play audio and display graphics. This changes the person’s experience of the physical environment and brings static things to life.
Modeling and design
A big advantage of AR is the user’s ability to visualize digital elements without the physical restrictions involved in prototyping and manufacturing. Unlike traditional modeling technology, augmented reality lets the user place a digital object in a non-digital space.
For instance, an engineer could design a 3D model and use augmented reality to view it from multiple angles. This would allow the engineer to better approximate the object’s real-world potential and, in theory, even streamline the design process.
An example of augmented reality in business
One excellent example of augmented reality in a retail setting is its use by the fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff. The company, which sells apparel, handbags, and more, was an early adopter of different modes of new technology—a business decision that’s proven to be fruitful.
By incorporating 3D modeling and AR technology into its website for a period of time, Rebecca Minkoff let shoppers use their smartphones to interact with a product they were considering buying. Using their screens, they could view the product from multiple angles and see its details up close. Ultimately, Rebecca Minkoff found that visitors to its website were 65% more likely to place an order after interacting with a product in augmented reality.
Augmented reality in business FAQ
What are the challenges of using augmented reality in business?
Two challenges of using AR in business are time and cost. Integrating AR technology into your user experience requires technical skills and can necessitate hiring a specialist. And, as with any technology, AR’s effectiveness ultimately will rely on the nature of your business and your customer’s needs and wants.
How do you use AR for marketing?
AR can be a powerful tool for marketing your brand. In business, AR can let your customers or potential customers interact with not just your products but also your brand in their own physical environment. AR forges a personal connection between your brand and a potential customer.
Does AR increase sales?
According to a case study involving fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff, well-implemented augmented reality solutions can improve sales. In Rebecca Minkoff’s case, customers were 44% more likely to add an item to their shopping cart after interacting with it in 3D, and 65% more likely to place an order after interacting with a product in AR. Your results may vary, but augmented reality would let shoppers interact with your products in their real-world environments, which could increase your sales by deepening the customer’s connection to your business.
