Last week, at our weekly “lunch and learn” session, Linx discussed the topic of Augmented Reality and its increasing adoption for marketers.
Augmented Reality (AR)… You might have heard the term, but what is it and how can it be useful to your company?
To start, let’s clear up any questions around the difference between Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and even Mixed Reality.
A Quick Synopsis:
Augmented Reality is when digital content is placed on top of the real world. An example of this was the wildly popular trending app, Pokemon Go, where users searched for Pokemon characters in real-life locations. Or, for a more common example, Snapchat and Facebook filters that place accessories on your face or give you animal ears in a photo.
Virtual Reality is a digital environment that is created that shuts out the real world. In this case, think of utilizing the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive and being immersed into different worlds.
Finally, Mixed Reality is digital content that interacts with your real world and as of now, the king of Mixed Reality is Microsoft HoloLens.
These new technologies are bursting with opportunity and are projected to rapidly grow over the next few years. In fact, according to XXX, it is expected that by 2023, Augmented Reality will become a $60 billion dollar industry.
Think Ahead: Leveraging New Technologies for Marketing
Over the past year, Linx has been following the trend of the new technologies that are crossing-over with reality to create new opportunities for our clients to utilize augmented reality to enhance their brand and promote their products and services in new and unique ways.
While something like Augmented Reality might seem like a complicated and expensive undertaking, that is not necessarily the case. There are many simple ways for every business to create unique experiences for their customers utilizing the technology. While we round-tabled our thoughts at our “lunch and learn”, we discussed some basic ideas for how specific clients could create interactivity around their brand or showcase their products and services using Augmented Reality.
For our e-commerce clients, we talked about how we can easily allow their customers to try on clothing to see how they would look before making a purchase. For our food industry clients, we explored how customers can take a look inside the packaging and the food items by opening them up right in front of them. For a client who sells home decor and furniture, we discussed enabling their customers to see how the products would look in their home house – a new couch, a lighting fixture, and accent piece – by taking a 360 image of the room. For construction and development clients, we brainstormed how to let their customers see a finished building or home on the exact land or plot to make sure everything is designed to perfection and fits the vision of those creating it. There are endless opportunities to utilize this new technology, but those who find the creative ways to do so will ultimately triumph over those who don’t.
Our responsibility is to bring our knowledge of these emerging technologies to our clients to help them continue to adapt to the changing world. Ultimately, Linx is here to Think Ahead for our clients and our goal is to make your company stand out in every way possible.
For more information on how we can help you use Augmented, Virtual or Mixed Reality to improve your brand, get in touch!
