With technological advancement, augmented reality technology has proven to be one of the most successful breakthroughs. It allows businesses worldwide to expand into new markets. According to analysts, the AR market would be worth $198 billion by 2025. In addition, the number of people using mobile AR is estimated to exceed 3.5 billion this year.
What is augmented reality (AR)
Augmented reality (AR) is an advanced version of the real physical world that is achieved through digital visual elements sound via technology. It is an emerging trend in digital and technology companies.
In this vast market, offering augmented reality experiences can be a competitive advantage in various businesses. The advancement of technology will also allow for increased working efficiency. Let’s look at a few augmented reality concepts that will drive innovation in 2022.
How augmented reality is evolving the world:
Here are the ways how augmented reality is changing the entire dynamics
Facebook Metaverse the new storm
Since Facebook’s rebranded to Meta is the new talk of the town. The word first appeared in Neal Stephenson’s science fiction novel Snow Crash in 1992, maybe musing on what would happen if giant companies gained more influence over people’s lives.
The metaverse is primarily focused on virtual reality areas, and the movement will likely revolutionize AR’s use in commercial and consumer settings.
• Automotive using AR
In the field of technology, AR has been applied. Hyundai’s AR-powered virtual guide app is a good example. Initially, the software recognized roughly fifty vehicle features from the 2015 and 2016 Sonata models. It now supports augmented reality-enabled Genesis luxury automobiles. Since every year, technology is getting advanced. It is estimated that from 2020 to 2026 AR auto market is expected to grow 30%.
• AR impacting consumer behavior
Since E-commerce has been boosted with the global pandemic, international brands, i.e., Lacoste, Kohls, and Sephora, have adopted the culture of augmented reality. Here the customers may now try before they buy from the comfort of their own homes. AR is in a fantastic position to help with this problem.
However, this does not apply to clothing brands. In addition, customers may use AR technology to view how furniture and other products would look in their own houses before purchasing them.
• AR making navigation safer
Indoor Navigations
AR trend is how people will utilize it to navigate from one location to the next. The advantages of AR for interior navigation are obvious, with control over the indoor environment. Bluetooth beacons, ceiling antennae, and QR codes are just a few of the tools employed to improve this experience at various scales. In circumstances where a reliable Wi-Fi network is already in place, however, Apple’s iPhone AR can indoor positioning utilizing Wi-Fi RF patterns.
Outdoor Navigation
Since it first went into beta in August 2019, Google AR Live View walking directions for Google Maps has improved. Google unveiled numerous additional enhancements to improve the outdoor AR Live View experience in October 2020. The ability to overlay landmarks and expand the live view to new cities were among them. In addition, consumers will use the Live View and Google Maps location, sharing a connection soon.
• AR technology on mobile
The popularity of mobile AR apps has grown to the point that Google is testing ARCore-capable phones regularly. The overall number of models that support ARCore was 44 at the end of December 2020. The latest five additions, including the Samsung Galaxy M20, were primarily low-cost handsets (Android Police, 2020).
Augmented reality is also supported on iPhones. iPhones 11 and onwards have run AR apps (Lifewire, 2020).
By 2022, it is expected that 4,670.8 million consumer mobile AR-embedded apps will be available (Tractica). It was estimated that there would be 2.2 billion mobile AR users (Statista, 2020).
