How can marketing use augmented reality?
Posted by joeAn emerging technology is augmented reality (AR). Wikipedia defines AR as “a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.” It won’t be long before shoppers are using AR to help them make buying decisions. I just read about AR in National Geographic, “Revealed World” (January 2012) – be sure to check out the photo montage to get an idea about how this will work. The article suggests that what you can now see on your smart phone is moving to specialized glasses and in a few years may be embedded in contact lenses. National Geographic used the technology in a shopping mall to promote its cable TV channel — see below.
For another example, see what Krystal did with a smart phone app below. I don’t think this really shows the full potential of AR, but it does show a low-cost way to generate some buzz around a brand. I applaud Krystal for dabbling in the new technology.
I think there is something to this technology — it sure seems like potentially useful information for shoppers — at least if you consider what it will be — not what it currently is. For that view, look back at the National Geographic article. What else could marketers do with this technology? Be creative and think of new applications, ideas, or brands AR might help.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I could definitely see this being used with clothing, if they could tune it up enough to form-fit clothes to people’s bodies (which would be really hard at this point) I’m sure it would be a huge success. Random side note, this song is used throughout this whole movie, which everyone reading this ought to check out.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/
January 17th, 2012 at 7:33 pmReading the article on how the Marines are using the AR to teach mechanics was a unique way to get some hands on training without having the teacher be right there showing them the way. With that in mind, I could see doctors being able to benefit from this technology. I think with the use of the special glasses they could basically practice surgeries before they get to the patient keeping them and their staff on top of things. (wouldn’t use as much cadavers) I understand that it is in its early stages but if they could get the visual to be more realistic then hold on folks, we are in for a ride.
CJ makes a good point about clothing. You could have an app for a phone that makes shopping online more convenient because of a virtual dressing room.
January 24th, 2012 at 11:20 pmThis is incredible technology that could be put to use in a variety of ways. The first thing that came to my mind was to use AR for movies. Instead of movie-goers donning 3D glasses to watch movies in 3D, they could put on AR glasses that could make the movie literally come to life. This would probably work best with animated movies, but it might be possible to put it to use with non-animated movies as well. While wearing the glasses, people watching the movie could feel like they individually were in the middle of the movie set watching the movie take place around them at all angles, instead of just in front of them.
I thought the article made an interesting point in saying that this technology may reduce personal interactions even more. It would be important for everybody to keep in mind that there is still a real world beyond AR.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:09 pm