How Augmented Reality Is Shaping the User Experience in 2022
Have you ever imagined how a piece of furniture would look in your home while shopping online? Today, all you need is a smartphone, and websites like Amazon have an AR mode that allows you to see your purchase in your home before you click the Buy Now button.
But this is not it. Augmented Reality (AR) is emerging as a practical tool in nearly every industry today, with new methods of implementation and usage.
The Future of Augmented Reality
Experts predict that the expansion of 5G networks will make cloud-based AR experiences easier to support and more realistic. The high-speed, low-latency internet of 5G networks will allow users to pull programmes and interactions from anywhere in the world.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many companies to adopt remote work, augmented reality became a part of the average office space of many organisations to keep up with the uninterrupted workflow.
In fact, many people rolled their eyes when Facebook introduced its virtual reality office software Horizon Workrooms in 2021. This AR technology application, on the other hand, could allow people to stay connected as if they were working in the same space without leaving their homes. An augmented reality meeting could show people in a room without attendees as holographic projections, videos, or even avatars.
The AR market is bound to expand rapidly, and experts predict that the industry will be worth more than $76 billion by 2030. It will be exciting to witness the innovations emerging during that period and augmented reality making our lives easier.
Making a Difference with Augmented Reality
Better Clarity with Real-Time Feedback:
AR attracts users by fusing digital information with the physical world, providing instant real-time feedback. AR allows you to interact with information rather than just consume it. On the other hand, the Internet of Things is assisting AR-driven businesses with real-time data simulation.
Real-time feedback for mobile augmented reality on smartphones has been found to have numerous benefits. Report findings also conclude that augmented reality reduces the need to shift attention between instructions and physical objects.
Interactive technology Drives Conversions
The AR apps add value to user journeys by simplifying their purchasing decisions and introducing the ‘fun factor’ that conventional applications lack.
You have the opportunity to promote the use of AR as a critical brand differentiator, which would strengthen brand loyalty and drive revenue. There’s a reason why engaged customers are 90 per cent more likely to return to your mobile app and willing to spend 60 per cent more per transaction.
With technology allowing for more seamless interaction and hands-free 3D devices, incorporating gesture and gaze control has the potential to carve the way for mixed reality. This increases conversions by raising user expectations, and the objects become more accurate, anchoring the users in the real world. More ways to interact with objects are available, including voice control, hands, palms, and other common gestures.
This extends to developing a distinct feature-rich identity with which users can identify. The goal is to engage in multiple ways to blur the line between the augmented and physical worlds until it completely fades out.
Elevates User Engagement & Brand Recall
Augmented Reality was primarily marketed as a gaming and entertainment technology when it first became popular. However, over time, it has expanded into several other use cases that can deliver significant business benefits, with high user engagement being one of them.
If there is one priority that most business leaders will prioritise in 2022 and beyond, it is improving user engagement.
User engagement serves as a springboard to a few other advantages. Increased spending to boost brand loyalty can result in numerous benefits for a growing and established business. The challenge is to serve the appropriate material at the appropriate time for the user to engage.
Scannable product labels, interactive ads, catalogues, and store signage are just a few examples of how AR can be used to enhance user engagement and bring back customers. Users are drawn to the technology because of its novelty and ability to deliver information quickly.
For a real-world example, Ikea’s design lab, Space10, revamped the company’s augmented reality offering to make it more functional and immersive.
Previously, users could place virtual furniture in a room using the Ikea Place app. Using iPhone LiDAR sensors, the all-new Ikea Studio app allows users to capture and re-design entire 3D room plans, including everything from windows and door frames to wall colours.
Using AR is the Need of the Hour!
We, as humans, spend more time staring at screens of various sizes, and our realities have become inextricably linked to digital experiences.
In such a case, brands must employ a mixed reality technology such as Augmented Reality. After all, it is the only technology that fully integrates physical and digital reality and provides strategic benefits that businesses cannot afford to skip.
This content was originally published here.