What is Augmented Reality?

We often find people who are curious about augmented reality technology and how it works. So, here is your answer. Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that can enhance the physical world with computer-generated content. And for computer-generated content, anything from videos, audios, graphics, or images can be used to overlay on the user’s environment for an augmented experience. It’s true, virtual and real-world co-exists perfectly in an AR world.

Realizing how much AR is truly capable of, many companies now use this trending technology for various business and customer-centered applications to ignite customer senses and enhance interaction.

Augmented Reality Now

When augmented reality first showed up in gaming, yea, it is Pokémon; you guessed it right, there was a spontaneous adoption of AR (750 million downloads). That clearly showed how much people were craving for an immersive experience. But gone are the days when we used to hear AR as a future technology that can be used only in the gaming sector. Time flew by, and now, here we are discussing the latest trending technology that has become mainstream and has the upper hand in industry 4.0.

Many tech leaders and business people understand the true potential of augmented reality and realize the infinite possibilities AR brings to improve customer engagement, sales, ROI, and its applications in supporting the workforce with remote support, immersive training, and more. So, are you ready to learn more about what augmented reality is and its applications? If yes, let’s find out more.

What are some Examples of Augmented Reality?

To understand augmented reality better and to know how this technology is in our daily lives even without we recognizing it, let’s start with some classic examples of augmented reality.

Examples of Augmented Reality

• Pokémon Go

  We can’t even move forward with an augmented reality conversation without mentioning the Pokémon Go app. Pokémon is one of the first AR-based games that was a smash hit of 2016 and had 65 million users. This GPS location and maps-based AR app allowed people to hunt Pokémon in streets and gardens worldwide.

• IKEA

  IKEA is one of the first companies in the world to incorporate AR. This retailer giant started experimenting with AR back in 2012, allowing its customers to see how furniture would look in their space. And now, IKEA has introduced the IKEA Places app, which allows users to select anything from their catalog and see how it looks in their house.

• Sephora

  Sephora, one of the biggest beauty brands, has an AR app, Virtual Artist App, that allows its users to see how different makeup looks look on their skin. It is very useful as most people have difficulty finding the right makeup products that suit their skin type. This augmented reality based app also boosted their sales as it reached its tech-savvy customers.

• Taco Bell

  In 2012, Taco Bell introduced an AR feature on their tacos box and soda cup as part of their Doritos shell campaign, enabling users to see Twitter and Facebook content related to it on their mobile phones.

Many brands have tried their hands on augmented reality in their marketing and sales strategies to create brand awareness and brand loyalty and increase customer engagement.

Now, as we know what augmented reality is and how many brands leverage it into their marketing strategies, let’s check out how augmented reality brings a difference in industrial operations.

What is Industrial Augmented Reality?

Industrial augmented reality involves overlaying digital information onto the worker’s field of vision using smartphones, tablets, and AR wearables. Years ago, AR was mainly used in industrial environments as a trade show curiosity. But eventually, with work restrictions in the industrial sector now and realizing how much AR can contribute to streamline operations and help businesses overcome financial loss, AR is fuelling interest in AR Remote Support. Companies now use augmented reality to transform the way their design, manufacturing, repair, inspection, and job training operations now perform. So, let’s check more about industrial augmented reality in detail.

Key Applications of Industrial Augmented Reality (AR)

Industrial AR offers ways to overlay easily understandable digital work instructions in worker’s environments. Industrial augmented reality has various practical applications that bring many benefits to different industry verticals, like manufacturing, automotive, oil and gas, telecom, telehealth, utility, transportation, and many more. Let’s find out how augmented reality transforms these industries in detail.

AR Remote Support for Workforce

Remote support is the most outstanding application that AR brings to enterprises. With AR-powered wearable and AR integrated smartphones and tablets, your frontline workers get the required information to perform inspection, assembly maintenance, or repair tasks right in front of their field of vision. Your frontline workers don’t have to waste their time going through the old manuals, drawings and can fix issues on the spot. They can also contact a remote expert anytime through video stream and get real-time support anywhere. One such AR remote support platform that supports technicians and streamlines business operations smoothly is CoTech.ai.

AR-based Training

We all know how efficient training can help employees perform better in their job. So, isn’t giving them immersive, almost real training the best decision? Also, research shows that employees who have undergone immersive training show a better retention rate of skills even after a year.

With better knowledge transfer, access to remote expertise, and improved customer experience, augmented reality is reshaping how businesses perform and support their frontline workers. The results? Faster first fix rate, better decision making, and less manual process.

Deliver results using Augmented reality

Industrial enterprises are implementing augmented reality to empower their workers to perform self-service, improve their efficiency and safety, and reduce costs and streamline their operations.

By integrating CoTech.ai, an AR remote assistance platform into industrial operations, companies saw a 50% reduction in downtime, 35-50% reduction in the time taken for issue resolvement, 30% reduction in operational expenditure and companies were able to conduct their operation with 25% reduced manpower.

The Accelerated Growth of Augmented Reality: 2021 -2025

Augmented reality is predicted to grow at an annual CAGR of 38.1% from USD 15.3 billion in 2020 to USD 77 billion by 2025. Within five years, there will be a massive market for augmented reality globally, which is why many tech giants like Apple, Google, Facebook are into this technology now.

Before you go, if you are in search of an augmented reality remote support software for your enterprise, read our blog on how to choose the AR remote support software for your business and thank us later.

Also, if you have any queries or don’t find your industry in our use cases, you can contact us anytime at info@iboson.io. We can have a chat and help you in the AR journey by crafting a custom remote assistance solution just for your industry vertical.