Have you ever used a filter? Beat someone at a game of Tic Tac Toe on Snapchat and felt like you were King of the World? Well, even though you may not have registered it amidst the glory of your win or seeing the cutest puppy nose appear on your face, but you were experiencing augmented reality (AR). AR is enhancing our lives, businesses, and marketing campaigns in ways that would have been gawked at just fifty years ago. Imagine telling your great-grandparents they could not only buy furniture online but just as easily see what that exact piece of furniture would look like in their living room with the click of a button — which is exactly what companies like Wayfair are doing. Through the implementation of virtual shopping marketing features, businesses have been able to allow customers to try items before buying them, to see how the desk they aren’t sure about will look with their new flooring or to see the entire interior of a car that seems too good to be true without leaving the comfort of their own home. Not only does this increase customer satisfaction, it also makes costly returns virtually disappear
AR has presented itself as the future of business. Remember the summer of Pokémon Go? It quickly became the hot new game no one could keep their hands off of and parents loved it because it made video games active. Pokémon Go caught the attention of millions because it seemed to bring the tiny creatures so many grew up loving to life and that is the beauty of AR. Unlike virtual reality (VR) where your entire surroundings are changed, AR adds to the familiar world around you, makes it better, and superimposes information augmenting your experience to a degree resembling Spy Kids. Google Glass and Microsoft Hololens are two examples of AR glasses that have brought a lot of attention to the possibilities these innovations hold in terms of business solutions, streamlining design processes, and transforming industry-wide practices. There’s a lot of room for AR to grow beyond a few apps and games such as the Star Walk app that allows you to simply point your phone at the sky and shows you the constellations you’ve wondered about since you were a kid, AR could be the next breakthrough in safety, medical research, and well, who doesn’t love fun filters? AR is continuing to change the way customers shop, automotive companies incorporate navigation into their vehicles, and on-site repairs occur and the possibilities truly are endless.