Along with artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition, Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the big technology trends this year.
Mobile point of sale, using a smartphone or tablet to take payment for goods and services, is now pretty well established. AR is the next step on from this.
AR technology arguably broke through to the mainstream a couple of years ago thanks to the popularity of Pokemon Go. The popular game allowed users to utilise the camera on their phone to interact with Pokemon characters at different geographical locations.
Another good example is Ikea’s new app which uses AR technology to allow users to take a photo of a room, then place Ikea furniture onto the image. This allows potential customers to ‘’try before they buy’’ in a virtual manner so that they can see if the furniture matches the design of their room.
Some businesses have gone one step further and they are using AR technology to activate apps on your smartphone when you are nearby. For example – if you are walking past a bicycle rental kiosk, the app will pop up and ask you if you want to rent a bicycle.
We are starting to see a new wave of innovative solutions being developed as a result of AR technology becoming more mainstream. This will give businesses a new way to interact with customers and could help you to create new delivery models for your products and services.