Role and Impact of Augmented Reality on Mobile and Its Advantages

Do you remember the good old days when Pokémon first came into existence? There were only a couple of options to play Pokémon – which is either on a GameBoy or Nintendo DS. The same applied even to card. However, with the launch of Pokémon Go, this changed.

The question is how? This is where augmented reality (AR) on mobile comes into the bigger picture – this allowed the players to look for Pokémon in the real world around them and get their hands on them. There was an expansion of Pokémon Go to the AR mainstream. And ever since, we have seen a growth in technology. A few years back, the customer-driven AR mobile apps grossed a global revenue of more than US$700 million. We predict that soon the number would cross US$15 billion.

Augmented Reality is being targeted by mobile marketers for the wider market perspective that it offers. Let us find out more in detail about Augmented Reality on mobile and its emergence over time.

What is Augmented Reality (AR)?

Augmented Reality can be defined as a technology that places digital data, such as text, sound, and video within your view in the real world. For instance, the Snapchat filters, which you can choose with just scanning your fingers through it, take interesting selfies and add some filters to it along with swapping faces with anyone you like.

The options and choices offered by AR aren’t limited to clicking fun selfies, but it goes beyond that – you can use it as a strong mobile marketing tool. You might be aware of the traditional marketing and digital marketing. As a marketing tool, it helps in bolstering customer engagement, while creating realistic, virtual experiences across products. Some of the apps, such as IKEA Place, allow shoppers to get a virtual view of how certain items, for example, a dining table would appear in their house – which helps them to choose an item that would fit into the mood and ambiance of their home before they go ahead and order it.

What is Virtual Reality (VR)?

To fully understand AR, it is important to know more about virtual reality (VR).

You might have heard that both AR and VR are almost similar. However, the fact is different – both are two different kinds of technologies. Though AR places digital information within a real video or image, without affecting the background or environment, VR provides an immersive 3D experience.

With Augmented Reality on mobile, customers are provided with access through only smartphones, but VR needs other types of equipment, such as headgear or goggles. This is one of the reasons why people prefer AR over VR. Both support informative as well as entertainment purposes.

Further, think of a situation where you want to present the furniture in your shop to your audiences – you do this by inviting your people over a VR campaign. But via AR, you can allow them to try how each of these furnitures is and their features.

Functions of Augmented Reality

It is quite easy and simple and innovative to apply AR to your campaigns. Big giants, such as Apple create AR toolkits for ensuring that development is made easy and simple. An artificial light appears through a layering effect in most AR campaigns. The first layer is undoubtedly the real world.

First, the camera will identify the target, then process the image and then expands the digital assets on top of that image. You will find that this layering effect exists throughout the device, making it easier for users to view both the real and artificial space simultaneously.

Now, the artificial layer is where mobile marketers show their excellence and skills by updating virtual messages, objects, and signs to help consumers interact with their apps with ease. Also, it allows interacting with brands in never expected ways. Some of the popular eyewear brands are successfully implementing AR to provide the virtual try-on feature, where users can test a variety of lenses and try each of them from their webcams.

Types Of Augmented Reality

There are four different types of ARs. Each of these types of ARs comes with a range of unique and distinguishable application and functionalities.

Let us take a deeper look at each of these ARs.

• Marker-Based Augmented Reality

Marker-based AR is also referred to as image recognition. Now, you would be more familiar with this. Most of you are familiar to this form of AR through its name image recognition. Here, what happens is a smartphone camera is used to create a visual marker to generate AR whenever the camera happens to sense or identify it. This marker might include a QR code or could be an image, such as a movie poster. The only condition is that it should have points that are well distinguishable.

With image recognition AR, you can breathe life into a static image, while providing your consumers with the information that they are looking for.

• Markerless Augmented Reality

With a GPS, accelerometer or a digital compass, Markerless augmented reality uses a GPS, digital compass, or accelerometer allows you to supply data to a device on the basis of speed or location. This is considered to be one of the most flexible ARs.

It is well-suited for exhibiting physical objects with regard to a range of objects, such as sizing or resizing objects or breathing life into characters within Pokémon Go.

Check out the comparison between Marker-based AR and Markerless AR.

• Projection-Based Augmented Reality

In projection-based AR, also referred to as spatial augmented reality or SAR, it projects artificial life onto a real surface – similar to how a movie projector operates. There is no need for headsets or screens here.

This is mostly used in conferences or events. You can make it interactive by implementing sensors and 3D. You can use this kind of an AR to project larger objects, such as vehicles. Also, it can be used in consumer research stage to acquire feedback on a variety of models.

• Superimposition-Based Augmented Reality

This kind of AR utilizes object recognition, where the augmented image would replace the original image either completely or partially. The best use of this AR is in the clinical niche, where it can be used for the place, for instance, an X-ray over a patient’s body.

Role of AR in Mobile Devices

Now, let us find out the role of Augmented Reality on mobile – how it has changed mobile for good.

It is confirmed that by the year 2021, the market for Augmented Reality on mobile devices will experience an annual average rate of consistent growth, which would be around 70% and would bring about a total turnover of US$80 billion soon. Interestingly, Augmented Reality on mobile seems to represent the highest share of the VR market, which will skyrocket to US$10 billion by 2021.

The increasing use of handy devices, such as smartphones and tablets, along with the emerging technologies, including computing software apps has led to this increase in growth of AR.

When compared with devices, including smart glasses, mobile would be one of the reasons for the widespread use of Augmented Reality on mobiles. This could be because everyone has access to it and has some of the necessary hardware components, such as sensors, CPU and GPU that this technology needs. Smartphones would allow you to overcome certain specific obstruction related to AR devices, such as battery duration, mobile connectivity and the mobile app development of other apps.

With the evolution of mobile apps and technology, people can now see virtual images in real context while also staying connected with these object and images, and interacting with them. This also provides an exponential improvisation of experience and all you need is the camera of your device.

With these factors, AR market for smartphones is growing like no other. And we can see that bigwigs like Google, Samsung, Apple, and Huawei are competing to give people the best of best. The market demand for AR would be led by software, specifically in the world of games, sports, and even entertainment sectors, where an immersive and engaging user experience can be differentiated and distinguished for brands serving the AR requests of their people, including followers, users, and fans.

Advantages of AR in Mobile Marketing

We will take you through the advantages of AR in mobile marketing.

As discussed, AR is, in fact, a game changer. It has brought about a drastic evolution to the way mobile marketing is done and having an important role in the latest digital marketing trends. It is impacting how consumers interact with brands, products, and even marketing campaigns to offer a great and seamless user experience.

In order to display their merchandise, products-based brands can now adopt the AR-driven 360º views and engagement levels flexible for customers to test their products. With the help of AR tutorials, brands can now display their offerings, while showing customers what they are going to get would be worth the money they spend on it.

With AR shaping and fine-tuning mobile marketing, a lot of changes would appear across customer experience – where customers can take advantage of an easy-to-use shopping experience. This would increase engagement levels.

Also, a geo-targeting facility is available, which provides you with suggestions on the nearby shops and restaurants – you just have to open the app and focus your camera at the surrounding places to get a detailed idea of what lies inside.

This is how AR is changing the world of mobile. If you have any suggestions about the article, let us know.

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