The Future of Augmented Reality – How AR is Reshaping Industries
Augmented reality involves overlaying digital information on the user’s view of a physical environment. It can take the form of bulky headsets, specialized sunglasses or even a smartphone.
AR applications range from IKEA’s kitchen tables that let customers envision furniture in their homes to virtual makeup try-on apps and augmented reality helmets for maintenance technicians. All AR experiences require content, however, which requires a dedicated team to build and manage.
Manufacturing
For example, a logistics company might use AR to streamline inventory picking by showing a worker exactly where each item is located in large storage areas. This helps reduce waste and cuts costs.
Similarly, manufacturers can use AR to drive efficient remote collaboration. When an expert can guide a field technician through a critical task over an AR display, that’s one less truck roll or airline flight to a remote location. That saves money and cuts carbon footprints, which is important for companies committed to ESG goals.
AR can also improve the product development and quality control processes, allowing designers to visualize hypothetical products and structures in their actual environments. This allows them to make virtual tweaks that help meet modern consumer expectations for shorter product lifecycles.
Retail
AR aims to augment the user’s natural field of view with digital information. This information is manually inputted by the user or gathered automatically by smart sensors in the device.
From Ikea Place to YouCam Makeup, mobile AR apps like these help users envision furniture in their home and try on makeup without physically visiting a store. It also helps them navigate and measure their surroundings via real-time GPS overlays and allows them to “travel” through remote locations (known as portals) — like Yosemite National Park —without ever leaving home.
AR also enables employees and operators to get immediate information about any machine or equipment through virtual, heads-up displays (HUDs). This supports maintenance, operational control, and safety for continuous production and non-disruptive performance. Moreover, it facilitates collaborative work and training by connecting experts across the globe.
Education
AR allows users to interact with their environment – aiming a mobile device at an object, for example, triggers the display of extra information. This can range from directions to a destination to the identity of stars in the sky.
Educators are increasingly using AR to enhance their teaching, boosting student engagement and improving learning outcomes. Faster wireless networks like 5GExternal link:open_in_new and improved mobile device processing power are making it easier to access AR, overcoming the limitations of slow data connections and lag.
Manufacturers and businesses can also use AR to provide a more immersive experience when training their employees. It can be difficult to understand the process of assembling, repairing or maintaining complex machinery – but AR can make it easier for technicians by overlaying detailed instructions – often visual – on top of the equipment.
Healthcare
From manufacturing and retail to education and construction, AR is transforming healthcare in many ways. From augmented reality surgical training to remote diagnostics, the applications are numerous.
Unlike virtual reality, which involves completely simulated environments, AR is designed to augment the user’s physical environment. It typically combines a display with a sensor suite including cameras, accelerometers, a global positioning system and a solid-state compass.
In most cases, a smartphone or tablet powers the AR experience. It can be housed in a headset or, as with Google Glass and Microsoft HoloLens, in a small external compute box called a “puck.” New toolsets are also emerging that give low-code users the ability to build AR experiences using drag-and-drop interfaces. This allows businesses to customize AR solutions without expensive development.
Construction
In a highly collaborative sector, AR is enabling better communication and coordination to streamline work processes. It can provide detailed instructions on how to operate dangerous machinery, decreasing the need for direct supervision, and improving safety.
Using a smartphone’s camera, AR overlays digital information over a live view of the user’s environment. This can take the form of text, images or video.
Various industries manufacturing smartphones, cars and jet engines are already leveraging AR to avoid errors and improve their processes. These technologies also make it easier to train new employees, as they don’t need to be physically present. Moreover, this enables them to address production issues quickly and achieve higher productivity.