I keep hearing everyone talking about augmented reality (AR). The next best thing in technology, they’re saying. At first, I was a little hesitant. There’s no way something could be that groundbreaking and innovative. But then, I started to dive a little deeper into the technology…
Not only into the technology itself, but also the companies that are investing money into research and development for new devices. Devices that’ll launch society into a whole new world and for the better.
So, what exactly is augmented reality?
Well, it’s a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment that has its elements “augmented” by computer-generated or extracted real-world sensory input, such as sound, video, graphics, haptics, or GPS data. This might sound a little complicated, but I guarantee that you’ve seen augmented reality before.
Are you familiar with the app Snapchat and its multiple filters? I’m sure you’ve seen a friend, family member, or acquaintance posting a selfie with the famous dog filter. Or maybe you were familiar with last summer’s nostalgic Pokémon GO craze.
This was just the beginning of augmented reality. People have begun noticing that the technology has the potential to do even greater things than just be a source of entertainment through photo filters or games.
Once AR begun reaching the radars of some of the biggest tech companies, it was a no-brainer for them to invest money into research and development…
Enhancing Industries
While at the Web Summit technology conference, Amit Singh, the vice president of business and operations for virtual reality (VR) at Google, predicted that “hundreds of millions” of Android devices will be able to engage in AR uses by the end of 2018.
Singh says:
There will be hundreds of millions of phones that will be AR ready. And the current stage is … we are helping developers … build the experiences … so that it becomes a daily habit.
And once it does, I suspect the natural evolution of monetization comes through…
Augmented reality (will become) a core feature of most Android over the next few years…
Phones are the first step in incorporating AR into our everyday lives. They’re also a way for getting developers even more excited about the technology.
The retail industry is ready for AR — it will make a customer’s shopping experience better. Customers will be able to interact with products in a whole new way. Not to mention, it’ll make shopping less of a daunting task for some.
At this year’s Shoptalk Europe, an event that organizes the world’s most innovative and important events for retail and e-commerce, Greg Jones, director of VR and AR at Google, said, “At some point, we’re going to look back and think, how did we not have a digital layer on the physical world.”
Recent insights from Google indicate that 34% of its users say they would use AR while shopping and 61% say they would prefer to shop at stores that offer AR. Jones added, “AR is set to reconnect physical and digital retail.”
AR is the obvious next step toward effortlessly intertwining our lives with technology…
What’s the Future of AR?
In 2016, the augmented reality market was valued at 2.39 billion. And currently, ReportsnReports is expecting the market to reach $61.39 by 2023 — that’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) growth of 55.1%.
AR will be a massive market for tech companies like Google and Apple.
Apple has launched its ARKit development platform, which will allow developers to create AR apps that overlay digital content over the real world visible through the iPhone’s camera lens.
Google is also making steps toward implementing AR technology. Augmented reality will be a massive market for tech companies. But the benefits aren’t stopping solely at that industry. The medical, e-commerce, and retail markets will reap the rewards from this emerging market, as well.
The opportunities with augmented reality are very real. To be frank, you’ll regret not being a part of it when you had the chance.
And that chance is happening right now.
Until next time,
Jennifer Clark
Pro Trader Today