May 2022 – Experience Design

22 May 202222 May 2022

For years, people have been talking about print media becoming obsolete and indeed, publications have struggled to remain relevant and financially viable. After all, why research a new product or plan your vacation with magazines when the internet puts not only text and images but video and interactive content at your fingertips. But what if the way for print media to maintain its usefulness isn’t in rejecting technology but by embracing it through augmented reality?

AR can, like its name says, augment printed materials. It can provide three-dimensional, rotatable, expandable models based on the images in books or magazines. It can call up supportive videos for more information. It can also provide translation in different languages and accessibility for people who are visually or auditorily challenged.

AR for Books

In a world where children often learn to operate digital tablets before they can talk, augmented reality can provide an enhanced experience of books, bringing characters into three dimensions. Textbooks can benefit from AR as well. Videos and other additional information can be called up through an AR app, enhancing understanding of concepts. The three-dimensional nature of AR images makes exploring language, history and math concepts more engaging. (several examples of augmented reality books)

Shopping, Product Packaging and Augmented Reality

Companies are already using AR to make interactive product labels; download a free app, point your phone at the label and the story unfolds. Jack Daniels is one of the more prominent companies using AR for marketing. Their bottle label tells stories about the history of the whiskey, teaches the distilling process and can take you on a virtual tour of their facilities. It’s easy to imagine how this concept applies to at-home shopping. AR is the link between those glossy yet archaic paper catalogs that arrive in the mail and the world of online purchasing. Point your phone at the page and learn more about the product, see videos of how it works and access a link to the online store.

AR and Product Guides

Let’s say you’ve already used AR to purchase something new — a vacuum cleaner, a new laptop or a fancy blender. That old-school product guide that has to be printed in several different languages can now be a lot smaller. An AR app can translate for you and provide additional information and three-dimensional diagrams that you can rotate or take apart without the risk of breaking your new toy. Mercedes Benz was making use of AR manuals as early as 2018, making it more fun and interactive to get to know your new car.

Augmented reality and print can work together, giving us the best of both worlds — the feel of real paper you can touch with the engaging and customizable nature of the digital world; the same target audience as a glossy paper catalog with an interactive digital touch that leads directly to the company website. Print media is far from dead and with augmented reality enhancing it, it will continue to play a role in informing and entertaining us.

6 Reasons Augmented Reality is Worth the Investment

13 May 202213 May 2022

There is a lot of talk about virtual reality these days, with Facebook rebranding as Meta and their declared focus on creating the Metaverse — a completely digitally generated world in which users can work and play. But augmented reality — technology that projects digital enhancement onto our existing world — is being applied in a number of different industries as diverse as large machine manufacturing and shopping for makeup. AR has begun to take hold of the manufacturing and retail world with much more potential. Here are some reasons AR is the tech to watch.

Mobile AR had 600 million users worldwide in 2020

That number is on the rise. According to Statista, by 2023, 1.4 billion people across the globe will be using mobile augmented reality. That number is expected to continue to grow through 2024 and beyond, as more apps make use of smartphones’ existing ability to support AR technology.

The AR market will be worth over $97 billion by 2028

In 2020, the augmented reality market size was about $4.2 billion. It was over $6 billion by 2021 and is projected to keep growing. While AR took a small dip during the pandemic, it has rebounded nicely and continues to grow. (Fortune Business Insights)

Augmented Reality has applications in the industrial sector

AR’s overlay of digital information on a real-world environment helps technicians prevent mistakes and work more efficiently. Newport News Shipbuilding, a designer of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, uses AR to inspect newly built ships. The digital projections highlight construction structures, not part of the finished product, that must be removed. AR has reduced inspection time from 36 hours to just 90 minutes. (Harvard Business Review, 2019)

AR can make education more efficient

According to Michael Porter, some companies are already using augmented reality to reduce the training time for new employees to nearly zero. It also means they are able to hire people who are initially less skilled. Package delivery company DHL has found this especially advantageous with their seasonal hires during peak shipping times. (Harvard Business Review, 2019)

Augmented reality is already used in healthcare

With augmented reality, patients and care providers can draw and annotate on a 3-D screen during telehealth visits. When combined with machine learning algorithms, AR can help detect diseases such as cancer. Google’s 2020 announcement for an AR-based microscope for the Department of Defense is just such an example. Real-time camera images are processed with computer diagnostics to diagnose disease at an early stage. (mobidev.biz)

AR-enabled advertising is engaging customers

The L’Oreal YouCam makeup app was downloaded 3.5 million times in 2018. Many media planners today intend to incorporate more VR/AR experiences into their ads to improve the customer experience. (Assemblr) In fact, AR ad experiences are reportedly twice as engaging as their non-AR equivalents.

Why Smartphones are the Preferred AR Tool over Headsets

04 May 202204 May 2022

Recently, there’s been an industry push for innovation in augmented reality to create more user-friendly interactions. While AR entertainment applications like Pokémon Go have enjoyed great success, AR tools have yet to be developed that could solve some of the problems for which it is well-suited — making things like GPS walking directions, fixing an appliance or shopping safer and more efficient. What is holding AR back?

The Impracticality of AR Headsets

A hands-free option (like a wearable headset) seems like the best option. But unfortunately, after many years of research and development by a multitude of companies, AR headset technology is still complex and cost-prohibitive, keeping it impractical for widespread use. According to Ben Kuchera, everything from price to complicated cables to the way they can mess up your hair keeps the general population from warming to the VR/AR headset concept. AR headsets are still a long way away from being lightweight, cable-less and affordable. But, the AR technology is there.

Smartphones’ Prevalence Makes Them Perfect for AR.

Most adults already carry smartphones. A recent census notes that 84 percent of households have at least one smartphone. As a realistic avenue for disseminating augmented reality, companies have been focusing on beefing up the AR capabilities of their phones. The goal is a highly sophisticated AR experience delivered through a device we already own, making the technology ubiquitous and accessible around the world. AR applications can project walking directions, instructions for fixing a laptop or information on a new product right onto the object or image through the phone.

This is why Kaalo is focusing on AR solutions for iOS and Android devices and has become the preferred partner for several large Fortune 500 companies. Kaalo‘s team of industrial designers, mechanical engineers, UI/UX experts and software developers create augmented reality experiences that function seamlessly with millimeter accuracy — an experience that can be easily delivered to devices most people already own. Experience it first-hand here.