It’s time to break the belief that Augmented Reality (AR) only benefits the gaming world. While it’s true that this sector has been key to the development of many technological advances, these always evolve into other areas. We’ll explore how technology has helped transform the customer experience and how it is used in different sectors.
Augmented Reality (AR) and the future of businesses are already here. Global Market Insights estimates that the AR market will surpass $50 billion by 2024, driven by adoption in retail, automotive, medical, and other industries seeking to enhance operational efficiency.
The use of holograms in movies like Star Wars in the 1970s and early 1980s, for example, familiarized and trained us to assimilate and work with these new modalities today.
Since 2018, immersive experiences have been a trend; today, what do we have? Augmented Reality is transforming the experiences that brands offer users to interact, attract, and strengthen relationships, all with the aim of ensuring customer satisfaction and higher conversion rates. What was once sought before AR is now proclaimed by many organizations as a fact.
If we talk about the success achieved by implementing AR, we must look at the key factors and the sectors that make it so transformative.
Let's start with retail purchases. With this technological revolution, the experience provides a more detailed view of the product or service offered, dissipating the dominant uncertainty about whether the purchase is of good quality. For example, Gucci offers an augmented reality try-on feature so customers can see their shoes by simply capturing their feet with their mobile phone camera.
Sephora created an experience with augmented reality to overcome the limitations faced by many women who do not purchase makeup products online because it is impossible to make an informed decision without trying the products. The Virtual Artist App, with ModiFace, allows users to see how makeup products will look on them through their phone's camera. Users can also find out what tools or products they will need to apply certain products. Additionally, ModiFace's AR technology can show users the effects of months of skincare on their skin, an image they won’t find in-store.
This gap between the physical and online shopping experience, with initiatives like those of Gucci and Sephora, reduces purchase objections.
The second sector is tourism and travel, where accessible guidance is extremely important. AR allows travelers to point their phone at a view and receive the information they need about the site. Museums are part of this market and are a great example
Thirdly, we have the famous customer service. How about receiving detailed information and learning about a brand simply by pointing your phone at the product?
"Heinz uses AR-based packaging to allow customers to get a lot of information when buying ketchup."
Pizza Hut is another example, transforming and presenting its menu by offering users more than just scanning a QR code. They could scan a trigger image in the menu through the app and access a Trivia Challenge for the whole family, as well as the option to place an order directly and view a 3D presentation of the meals.
The fourth sector where this advancement is transforming the customer experience is healthcare. While technology can be used through AR applications to learn about anatomy via 3D representations of bodies, it's also crucial for users and patients to understand and benefit from it. For example, AccuVein provides a map of veins on the surface of the skin to make it easier for a healthcare worker to access them and avoid discomfort for the patient. This facilitates the work, ensures the intervention, and allows the patient to learn from what they see during the procedure.
And lastly, we talk about publishing. This world also has its own science, but augmented reality is making reading a fully immersive experience.
Can you imagine bringing books and magazines to life beyond your imagination? Today, AR can allow a character, landscape, or place to appear as a 3D image or provide instant additional information about a topic when you focus your phone on a printed page.
A case that left us amazed is how this tool is used in the sports sector for advertising on billboards. Thanks to this technology, the ads adapt to what we see in the sport depending on where they are broadcast.
"According to a study by Interactions Daymon, 71% of customers have positive opinions about AR in the shopping experience, facilitating interaction and decision-making in purchasing products."
With these examples, what will you come up with to make people click and buy from your company? When creativity is involved, the sky's the limit.
