You’ve already used augmented reality (AR) if you’ve ever used a street view service to explore a destination before visiting or a home furnishing app to visualize potential purchases. Plenty of augmented reality examples can be found in the entertainment industry, such as picture filters that change a person’s appearance, games that combine real and virtual settings, and apps that insert virtual characters into a physical area.
What Is Augmented Reality (AR)?
The term “augmented reality” (AR) refers to the process of using digital visual elements, sound, or other sensory cues to create an enhanced representation of the real physical environment that is then provided via technology. It’s becoming increasingly common for businesses to develop apps specifically for use with mobile devices.
One of the key goals of augmented reality is to highlight particular elements of the physical world, better knowledge of those features, and extract smart and accessible insight that can be used in real-world applications in an era of increasing data collection and analysis. Such massive datasets can be used for a variety of purposes, including informing business decisions and learning more about consumer buying patterns.
The Basics of Augmented Reality
The use of augmented reality (AR) is expanding, and AR technologies are improving. Marketers and tech companies have been fighting the misconception that AR is just a gimmick since the technology’s inception. But there is mounting evidence that customers are benefiting from and expecting this technology to be a standard part of their shopping experience.
Wearable technology has been the subject of much speculation as a potential game-changer for augmented reality. Smart eyewear, for example, could enable a more full link between real and virtual domains if technology improves sufficiently to become ubiquitous, whereas smartphones and tablets only show a small piece of the user’s landscape.
Augmented Reality: Some Examples
Some forward-thinking stores have created augmented reality tools to improve customers’ buying experiences. Consumers can now imagine how things would look in their own homes thanks to augmented reality features added to store catalog apps. When shopping for furniture, for instance, consumers need only aim their cameras toward the desired space to have the item materialize in the foreground.
The medical field is another promising area for augmented reality applications. By hovering a mobile smartphone over a specific target, augmented reality apps reveal 3D representations of internal organs and other bodily parts. This application of augmented reality has proven to be an effective means of teaching future doctors.
More developments in the field of technology have recently been announced and you can read more about them by visiting the links provided below:
- Exploring the Definition and Applications of Virtual Reality Technology
- What Is Cloud Computing? What Does a Cloud Computing System Look Like?
Comparison between Augmented and Virtual Reality
The difference between augmented reality and virtual reality is commonly misunderstood. By superimposing computer-generated imagery (CGI) onto a user’s view of the actual world, augmented reality changes how one interacts with their surroundings.
Take Pokémon Go as an example; players explore their real-world environments in pursuit of virtual creatures. Broadcasters in the NFL employ augmented reality to improve their analysis of games.
However, with virtual reality, the person is placed in a completely artificial environment that has been produced by a computer.
Users of virtual reality systems are frequently transported to fictional worlds or animated settings. You can also use VR to take pictures of a real-world area and incorporate them into a VR game or experience. A trip to Italy through a VR headset is the next best thing to actually being there.
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