Augmented Reality – from Spielberg’s imagination to the palm of your hand

Whereas virtual reality (VR) replaces the real world with a simulated one, augmented reality (AR) uses technology to ‘enhance’ the real world. In a kind of real-time, sport-edition upgrade for the eye balls…

Although it’s been knocking about in films for years (think Tom Cruise in Spielberg’s Minority Report), AR now seems to be gaining traction in the ‘real world’.

So how will we consume AR, and how will businesses use it to their advantage?

For the tourism industry, it’s through the mobile or tablet for sure. Companies like Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor are using mobile AR for the armies of middle-class gap year students roaming the streets of Europe.

"You are most information-starved when you are in a completely new environment," said Jeremy Kreitler, vice-president of mobile at Lonely Planet. "Those are probably the environments where augmented reality will flourish the most." (Check out the full story in The Guardian).

And recently we’ve heard a lot about mobile shopping, too. So which other sectors about to follow suit?

As featured in Mobile Marketing Magazine, SapientNitro has released an AR app called AR Lungs that is designed to help people stop smoking. It basically shows you how your lungs actually look.

“The immaturity of the technology has so far restricted AR to the ‘fun’ space,” says SapientNitro director, Bradley Gamage. “AR Lungs demonstrates the potential for AR to help raise disease awareness.”

One European company, Wikitude – developers of a mobile Augmented Reality browser – has set out on their mission to ‘develop the world as a platform’.

And, in theory, if the world IS indeed a platform, all your business needs to do is develop an App and plug your customers in. Their eyes, are all yours. Easy, right?

RM.

By the way, Wikitude’s CMO, Andy Gstoll, will be discussing the future of mobile AR at PLANET OF THE APPS in Sydney this year.