Augmented reality in retail?
If stats are to be believed then, 75% of customers expect new technologies for better experiences. That very research states that 84% of customers believe the experience is just as important as the product itself.
(Source: Salesforce Research)
(Source: Istock)
According to the AR Retail survey:
1) 72% of customers purchased items they didn’t plan to buy because of augmented reality.
2) 71% of customers shopped more when they used AR.
3) 61% preferred stores with AR experiences.
4) 55% say AR makes shopping more fun.
6) 40% are ready to pay more if they test products with AR.
(Source: retail perceptions)
With such tremendous potential, retail businesses must envision adopting these technologies which will also empower businesses to develop and enhance their financial prospects. Augmented reality is a key transformation influencing offline customer engagement that brands and retailers are actualizing to digitize the customer experience. Executing AR and VR in retail helps retailers and customers always stay connected to deliver an unmatched customer experience.
Augmented reality (AR) has come a long way, be it in-store or in the e-commerce space. Retailers and inventive brands are looking to adopt immersive digital methods to drive customer engagement, increase their revenue, and improve brand awareness and loyalty.
The augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) market amounted to a forecast of 18.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 and is expected to expand dramatically in the coming years.
(Source: Statista)
How is Augmented Reality helping jewellery retailers?
Augmented reality-powered Virtual try-on is a personalized affair that detects facial points & tracks the face in real-time. This also means that the virtual product stays in place even when one moves one head.
Augmented Reality is the new future and when we talk particularly about the Jewelry market, virtual Try-on has hit the market. Virtual Try-on is made by using Artificial Intelligence in which you can try jewellery online without any hassle.
The recent trend has made the retail shift from established shops to mobile phones. Now, the biggest problem that online vendors face is the inability to make customers try products on themselves. It is practically impossible for consumers to visualise 2-dimensional images of the products.
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Types of Augmented Reality in retail
(i) AR on mobile App
There are 2 types of AR that can be used in mobile apps.
- Marker-based Augmented Reality
- Markerless Augmented Reality
Both of them differs in terms of used sensors and technologies, but the basic principle is still the same: they display virtual 3D objects on top of a camera view.
Marker-based Augmented Reality
Marker-based Augmented Reality uses a designated marker to activate the experience. Popular markers include Augmented Reality QR codes, logos, or product packaging. The shapes or images must be distinctive and recognizable for the camera to properly identify them in various surroundings.
In the beginning, image recognition wasn’t well developed and the marker was just a QR code. But currently, some tools can recognize almost everything, from text to the human face.
(Source: Researchgate)
Example of Marker-based Augmented Reality
- Augmented Reality QR code: An AR Code is a type of barcode containing the information needed to simply show a 3D experience that can be reproduced in an augmented reality environment. Start creating, managing, editing, and tracking your AR experiences.QR codes are commonly used as a “trigger” to launch AR experiences. QR codes are simple and effective and consumers are already using them daily for a range of purposes, so it only comes naturally to utilise a QR code in your AR experience.
- Augmented Reality Logo: AR LOGO creates a new and easy way to communicate and increase business, enhancing brand awareness (without changing the logo’s design), associating and updating contextualized contents to the same image and profiling customers through analytics to optimize the company’s strategy.
- Augmented Reality in Product Packaging: Augmented reality, the fascinating technology can be used to enhance product packaging, improve brand loyalty, attract new customers, and stand out from competitors.
Markerless Augmented Reality: Markerless augmented reality (AR) refers to a software application that doesn’t require prior knowledge of a user’s environment to overlay virtual 3D content into a scene and hold it to a fixed point in space.
(Source: Catchar)
How Does Markerless Augmented Reality Work?
Markerless AR merges digital data with input from real-time, real-world inputs registered to a physical space. The technology combines software, audio, and video graphics with a smartphone’s or headset’s cameras, gyroscope, accelerometer, haptic sensors, and location services to register 3D graphics in the real world.
Markerless AR detects objects or characteristic points of a scene without any prior knowledge of the environment, such as walls or intersection points. The technology is often associated with the visual effect that combines computer graphics with real-world imagery. The first markerless systems used a device’s location services and hardware to interact with available AR resources and define its location and orientation in space.
The development of simultaneous localization and mapping technology (SLAM) improved the accuracy of markerless AR image analysis. SLAM markerless image tracking scans the environment and creates maps of where to place virtual 3D objects. Even if the objects are not within a user’s field of vision, they do not move when the user moves, and the user does not have to scan new images.
Example of Markerless Augmented Reality
- Augmented Reality in Gaming: An augmented reality game often superimposes a pre-created environment on top of a user’s actual environment. More advanced AR games may build an environment from user surroundings. Such a game could involve, in-game characters climbing from coffee tables to sofas on virtual bridges.
Pokémon GO, considered the breakthrough AR app for gaming, uses a smartphone’s camera, gyroscope, clock and GPS and to enable a location-based augmented reality environment. A map of the current environment displays on the screen and a rustle of grass indicates the presence of a Pokémon; a tap of the touchscreen brings up the capture display. In AR mode, the screen displays Pokémon in the user’s real-world environment.
- Augmented Reality in Live Events: Those viewing the game at home are probably familiar with a live stream of the field, but with augmented reality elements interposed on top of the image. The augmented reality elements often display player’s positions, highlights plays, or other information. The AR display can also visibly show information regarding the game a viewer is watching, similar to how a broadcaster provides stats and background information for players and teams.
(ii) Web-based AR experience
Web-based AR is the next big thing. Brands, organisations and marketers are all starting to look at Web-Based Augmented Reality technology and identify use-cases within their business.WebAR is an Augmented Reality experience that is accessed via a web browser instead of an app. It provides this web-based AR experience by using technologies like WebGL, WebRTC, WebVR and APIs.
Web-based Augmented Reality enables smartphone users to discover AR technology most easily— via the web— without the burden of installation. It simply breaks barriers and creates interactive 3D models one can access through QR-code or a link.
Industries where WebAR can be used:
- E-commerce and Advertising: WebAR can take e-commerce experiences to another level. In the case of marketing, it offers a new platform for advertising campaigns as people can just scan a QR-code or follow a link and get more engaging and interactive advertisements they will enjoy.
- Education: The application of WebAR in the educational process can be a great way to engage students in classrooms and make the whole education process more interactive and exciting. Also, it can help students navigate through campus.
(Source:ZealAR) - Entertainment: The are many WebAR examples created for entertainment as interacting with it is truly fun by itself. It can be used for gaming or even for movie promotion. Sony Pictures used WebAR to promote Jumanji and they offered a truly engaging experience powered by voice interaction to grant an exciting 3D adventure.
- Business Cards: One of the most interesting WebAR examples is 3D AR business cards. When you scan QR types of AR can-code, an interactive card appears on your phone screen. From there you can navigate through the person’s social media, email, etc. Your WebAR business card will also allow you to track the analytics: how many people used the QR code.
(Source:Bell One)
(Source: Perfectial)
(iii) AR for display
There are three basic techniques for showing visuals in AR which depend on the proximity of display mediums. Handheld AR is a common method that uses smartphones and tablets to show AR content, it gained popularity after the release of gaming applications like Pokémon Go and Ingress.
Another is using headsets that are classified as optical see-through (OST) and video see-through (VST). OSTs are often termed as true AR at the moment e.g. Hololens, Google Glass).
New technologies that are in development include spatial see-through displays which project content in 3D free space using plasma in the air and retinal displays which projects directly on users’ retina.
(iv) AR for Training and illustration: Today, various industries are exploring AR solutions for faster and more effective learning. Whether your organization needs to develop technical skills like maintenance and repair or upgrade its onboarding programs and change management initiatives, AR is a solution that captivates all generations of workers.
Let us understand AR use cases
- Heavy equipment training: Imagine training a group of newcomers on operating a big fat machine, without risk to the employee or the machine. Each step needs to be performed meticulously without error or accidental skipping. AR enables the learner to look at the machine while information related to its different parts, including a user manual and troubleshooting options, pops up wherever required.
(Source:Pintrest)
- Employee safety training: Augmented reality in employee safety training can dramatically reduce operational costs and training risks by creating safe simulations of unsafe situations. Creating realistic training scenarios can be dangerous as well as expensive. Plus, given that employee safety is such an important aspect of corporate training, AR in training also helps the learners retain information better than any safety instruction guidebook or PowerPoint deck.
(Source: Edgepoint learning)
In the age of social distancing, AR is a powerful tool for merchants. It makes it possible for consumers to engage with products almost as they would in physical stores, and that higher engagement translates to higher sales.
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