Augmented Reality (AR) isn’t just a gimmick anymore which was used in gaming. It’s evolving to a powerful tool in a lot of industries, transforming how businesses operate, how people learn, and how customers interact with products and services.
In this article, we will be exploring 9 industries that are already benefitting from AR, and what that could mean for the future of innovation.
How it’s used: AR is helping customers visualize their products before they purchase it. For example apps that let you see how a sofa would look in your living room or how a pair of glasses would look on your face.
Example: IKEA Place app lets users virtually place furniture in their homes using just their phone camera. This gives possible customers a real life idea of the result of their possible purchase. It gives you 2 images of an empty living room and also the same room with the virtual furniture added through AR.
How it’s used: In this case AR assists surgeons in complex procedures simply by overlaying 3D images on the body. It also helps to train medical students in their anatomy lessons without needing to cut into real cadavers.
Example: A little tool called AccuVein uses AR to help nurses locate veins more easily. An overlay of AR showing the veins of a person on his arm during an injection or blood extraction..
How it’s used: In the manufacturing world AR helps engineers visualize prototypes, it detects flaws early, and overlays instructions during assembly to make the production process easier. Example: Ansomat uses AR to help the workers to manufacture electric parts by giving them digital work instructions, this reduces errors and improves speed. In practice this leads to a technician viewing a side screen while assembling complex machinery with digital guidance displayed.
How it’s used: Clients have the possibility to take a virtual tour of a property or view an unfinished home as if they were already built.
Example: Matterport creates an identical copy of your property. This allows real estate agents to create immersive AR/VR walkthroughs of the homes being sold or rented out. This results in a virtual home tour viewed through a phone, tablet or VR glasses, showing the interior of a house in 360°.
How it’s used: The use of AR in automotive is astonishing . Some options include design assistance, safety training, and enhancing driver experience with heads-up displays. Example: BMW has an app that shows customers how different features look on a car before purchase. This gives the customer a clear picture of what to expect. After the purchase there is a nice extension on the car, showing the driver an AR dashboard navigation and alerts on the windshield.
How it’s used: The introduction of Ar in travel enhances travel experiences with interactive maps, historical overlays, and on-site guides.
Example: Thanks to TimeLooper we can experience historic events (like the American Revolution) while virtually standing in the actual location, this is created with the projection of historical scenes.
How it’s used: AR overlays blueprints on job sites, helping workers to see behind walls or check alignment before building, giving them the right work instructions. Example: Trimble SiteVision provides real-time AR models on construction sites for accurate positioning. Thanks to AR this shows us the future building layers on a construction site, reducing the percentage of errors being made.
How it’s used: This is where AR first gained public attention. Everybody remembers the game Pokémon Go showing the pokemon animals that you had to catch. That showed how real-world interaction could blend with digital elements.
Example: Niantic’s Pokémon Go and Harry Potter’s Wizards Unite are examples of AR showing city streets with AR creatures or AR items visible only on a smartphone.
How it’s used: Brands are using AR to create interactive campaigns, creating amazing experiences and increasing brand awareness.
Example: Pepsi’s AR bus stop ad in London showed alien invasions and robots walking down the street in real-time. This results in fantastic footage of people who are extremely amazed.
Augmented Reality is not a one hit wonder. It’s an ongoing growing technology that is reshaping industries as we speak. This is already used in retail, healthcare, education and marketing. Augmented reality offers companies ways to work smarter, reduce errors, train better, and sell more effectively.
How do we see the future? At Ansomat , we see now that AR becomes more and more accessible and is still expanding its possibilities. We expect to see even more industries adopting it in creative and impactful ways and experiencing the benefits along the way.
Do you want to explore how AR can help, grow or assist your business? Contact us today to brainstorm about tailored solutions to your industry.