Augmented Reality From Fiction to Retailing, Part 1

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Augmented Reality is technology that mixes virtual reality and the real world in different proportions. This allows a level of immersion that no purely virtual system can provide. Augmented Reality “augments” the reality that surrounds us; creating a new scene by adding virtual elements to the existing reality. Therefore, it enhances what we see, hear, feel, and smell. By placing computer-generated graphics in the field of vision, AR adds sound, graphics, haptic feedback, and smell to the real world in real-time.

Now that we know what AR is, and how it works, let’s have a look at how some pioneering enterprises have already been incorporating AR into their existing technologies, and how retail CIOs, who are thinking of deploying this technology in their organization, can get started.

Some pioneering enterprises have already incorporated AR into their existing technologies. Some of these AR apps for mobile devices have been developed specifically for the reality of retail business. Technology experts and researchers have great expectations in the ROI of AR.

According to Denis McCauley, director of Global Technology Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit, and a leading authority in the technology industry, some CIOs believe AR can be applied in areas such as customer service, staff training, and brainstorming activities. Juniper Research has suggested in a press release that mobile augmented reality revenues will approach $1.5 billion in 2015. Not bad for a quite new technology.

Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has been a pioneer in introducing AR and interactive technologies to both its 2013 catalog and product instructions, as we can see in this illustrative video.

The free IKEA AR catalog app for iOS or Android works when the mobile device captures the AR marker in the instructions. This can easily be adapted by any organization looking into boosting the customer impact of the existing paper catalogues -- adding AR to them is a great way of reinventing them.

As far as other companies using AR, one of the most common and useful applications of augmented reality is adding information to the retail packaging of products. No matter how small the packaging is, AR lets you add as much information as you wish to better serve the curiosity of the customer. An AR app can find, and project onto the package, complete information about its ingredients, price, and nutritional values. It may also include customer reviews, serving suggestions, or even recipes, as shown in this video:

This kind of experience lets customers shop from virtually anywhere, collect points, rewards, and cash prizes. For example, GoldRun is a platform and an app that lets customers collect rewards, just as they do with loyalty cards. Watch this video to see how GoldRun works.

In 2010, I was fascinated by Qualcomm. The iButterfly app they presented at the SIME conference filled the stage with colorful AR butterflies. Using this app, consumers can catch butterflies with their phone, collect them, use them as coupons, and exchange them with friends. These butterflies can be used for promoting the launch of a new product, or even promoting the opening of a new store.

iButterfly is an entertaining smartphone application that uses AR, a motion sensor, and GPS functions to collect coupons. Through the iButterfly, it's possible to deliver not only coupons, but also diverse information and contents as well. In 2011, with additional social elements developed by Butterfly Corporation, iButterfly was reborn as iButterfly Plus, an AR-supported communication application which uses AR and location information to catch AR butterflies.

AR is the future of retail, and it’s here to stay. In Part 2, an interview with Richard Savage from Qualcomm will reveal some tips for CIOs who want to know more about how to deploy AR in their organization.