Introduction to Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality, or AR, is a technology that superimposes digital content over your physical environment when viewing through the camera of your smartphone or tablet. This gives a composite view and an illusion of digital content being present in the true environment. You can virtually walk across the digital model while staying within the comforts of your front room. The big advantage of this technology is that the user doesn’t need any special device to experience it. Just an everyday smartphone will do.
How Augmented Reality Works
To check out AR, take out your smartphone, Google for something like ‘tiger’. In the search results, search for an choice to View in 3D. You get an animated model of a tiger. There is yet another choice to View in your space. Hit that and your phone does scans where your floor is and places the 3D animated model of the tiger in your physical space. You can walk across the tiger as if it were present in your front room.
Impact of Augmented Reality on the Retail Industry
As the capabilities of the smartphone drastically improved over the past several years, it became an indispensable tool for delivering augmented reality experiences. With the arrival of Web-based AR and its advancements, it eliminated the necessity for installing a separate app for every of the AR experiences. AR improves customer experience and tries to convert a possible customer to an actual customer. This way, the client could make more informed and convinced decisions.
Examples of Augmented Reality in Retail
AR experiences vary from easy desktop/laptop browser-based like within the case of bijou store web sites to extensive smartphone app-based AR examples. Take as an illustration, Tanishq, they’ve an AR experience on their website to try on different jewelry. This opens the webcam and allows you to try on the jewellery products. You may even do that in your laptop. AR is utilized by a spread of firms in fashion, jewelry, furniture, and automotive industries.
Virtual Try-On Experiences
AR allows the user to virtually try on anything from spectacles or sunglasses, clothing, watches, shoes and even cars! Several apps like Lenskart allow users to virtually try on the complete range of glasses or sunglasses using AR and in real time. It helps the users to freeze in on the design that suits them without having to walk into the shop. Amazon and Ikea use AR to let the user virtually try on any piece of furniture inside their very own home or office. AR allows the user to see if a specific sofa matches of their space and the way it blends with their interior theme.
Benefits of Augmented Reality in Retail
There are other apps that even allow you to virtually try on a shoe or perhaps a watch. It recognizes the feet and places a pair of virtual shoes, and it reacts the identical way as an actual shoe if you move your feet. You could try different models and select one of the best one that you just like. One common thing concerning the examples stated above is that almost all of them are e-commerce platforms and it makes a great deal to have AR experiences for a virtual try on of the products before making the acquisition decision.
Physical Showrooms and Augmented Reality
What about businesses which have extensive physical showrooms? They too use AR. Stores have a dedicated device called a Magic Mirror. These devices use something often called 3D Virtual Fit. These are like life sized mirrors (but with a digital screen) equipped with a camera. When a customer stands in front of this device, it simulates a mirror, and so they can pick some clothing to virtually try it on. This allows the client to see how that dress matches them. They also can try customizing the dimensions, color and fit.
Automotive Industry and Augmented Reality
Yet one other example is from Tata Motors. They offer an AR experience on their website that permits you to see how that automobile matches into your automobile parking space. Furthermore, that is again driven by the browser in your smartphone thereby removing the trouble of putting in an app that it’s possible you’ll not use again. This helps the user view the automobile exterior in addition to the inside. This AR experience lets the user resolve the way it looks or feels before they proceed with the following step for test driving an actual automobile.
Conclusion
This is how AR helps the retail industry convert their sales rate especially when the competition is cut-throat, and the client has too many options to select from. Companies are glad to spend for these AR experiences that allow the users to virtually experience their products. Customers too are lapping up these AR experiences and glad to buy with these firms. With the increasing use of AR in retail, it’s likely that we’ll see much more modern applications of this technology in the longer term, changing the best way we shop and interact with products ceaselessly.
