Category Archives: Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with live video or the user’s environment in real time

Developments in Virtual Trial Room Technology

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Mirrar Ornaments, Virtual Trial, Jewellery

Virtual Trial Room for Jewellery

Internet has revolutionised the way we live today. We seek information online, we study online, we watch the news online, we watch movies online, we chat with friends online and we also shop online. Our lives are bound by the internet. As many say, internet is the biggest culture shift we are seeing today, and we are very much a part of it.

Saying this, I believe Technology is the backbone of e-tailing or online retailing. It is also apparent that technological developments will continue to play a critical role in the growth and adoption of e-tailing, primarily by reducing the divide between physical and online stores and by ensuring efficient execution.

Virtual Trial Rooms

Unlike the brick and mortar stores, where we can pick and feel the product before we buy, Online stores do not have a direct connection with the consumers. Hence, all the e-commerce companies, are looking at technologies such as virtual and haptics to replicate experience given by the physical stores.

One such innovation which stands out is the Virtual Trial Room technology which enables the consumers to “try” clothes, jewellery, eye-wear virtually. The technology behind this is called Augmented Reality, which overlays a digital layer of information over a live video feed. You can read more about this technology other articles of this blog.

We have seen that many retailers have experimented with this technology, for example RayBan has launched their virtual trial room recently. Other retailers who have opted for this technology are Banana Flame in apparel, and Vision Express, Tortoise and Blonde Eyewear in the eyewear category in the UK. In India, we see online retailers like Myntra, Zovi, Lenskart etc implement this technology in their online stores.

Current stage of Virtual Trial Rooms

While this technology promises to be the future of shopping, it still in its infancy. We mostly see stores overlaying image of the clothes, jewellery on top an image of the consumer, providing a basic idea of what to expect while buying. Some retailers use images and 3D models, to overlay on top of a live video feed to give a more realistic appeal to the consumers. Other innovations include a robotic mannequin which gives you an idea of the fit.

While these technologies have shifted the user experience paradigm positively and consequently boosted store traffic, there are other advantages offered by the format, including co-shopping, which allows people in different places to examine the same product via the internet and make comparisons.

Integration with social media has huge impact in this technology. One simple share or a ‘like’ or tweet could give the consumer instant feedback from friends and associates. One step further we have social shopping. In physical stores, we often go to shopping with our friends, Online retailers are trying to implement the same experience by using the social graph from facebook, twitter and other social networks.

Future of Trial Rooms

In near future, this social networking site will be favorable to converse about the products catered, usability, traffic, reviews and ideas. People around the globe can collide and share their experience about online shopping and may even get acquainted with constructive benefits of the unpopular E-stores too. This retail based social network with multimedia features is assumed to acquire a good traffic of users enhancing their experience.

Another technology in the offing is haptic technology which will allow online shoppers to touch and feel the product. This could, for instance, let you get explore the ‘texture’ of the garment and so on.

Augmented reality vs. QR codes: Which delivers most bang for the buck?

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QR code use skyrocketed last year because of how easily the technology bridges digital and real-world engagements. On the other hand, augmented reality offers a more exciting way for brands to interact with consumers, but may not be the right choice in all cases.
Magazine advertisers and publishers, consumer packaged goods brands, catalogers and ecommerce providers have all embraced QR codes to deliver content and support virtual shopping experiences. The number of brands embracing augmented reality is currently smaller but some unique experiences driven by augmented reality are starting to appear.
“Hands down, QR codes are the better value for anyone looking to connect the real and virtual worlds. Dan Roche, vice president of marketing at TalkPoint, New York. “At TalkPoint, we see our customers use QR codes to drive viewership to webcasts on a regular basis through print and on-site conference promotion among other outlets.
“Augmented reality creates an interactive experience that is more fun and immersive, and those are great qualities for a campaign that provides a lot of creative options,” he said.
“I do, however, think that QR codes are more pragmatic than augmented reality. QR codes are able to provide a comparable – although maybe somewhat less – engaging experience with the benefit of being a bit more versatile to help drive revenue dollars directly into your program.”
The practical sideQR codes and augmented reality each has its own set of pros and cons.
There is still no standard format for 2D bar codes – which minimizes consumer awareness – and users do not always know what to expect when they scan a code. Additionally, QR code readers are not standard on all mobile operating systems.
On the plus side, QR codes require little effort on the part of the consumer to use and offer a great way to see a product in action before making a purchase. From the marketer’s perspective, they are relatively inexpensive to implement.
“There will be continued growth in QR codes usage,” Mr. Roche said.
“I do not see the QR code as a game changer that will have meteoric rise,” he said. “However, I do see practical, controlled-use cases that really fit well with QR codes because they are convenient, helpful and can generate hard dollars.
“Their usage in retail outlets, on subways, trains and buses and at conferences help make them a practical choice for customers wanting to control the user experience. They provide a way to offer coupons, product reviews and outlet locations.”
The excitement quotientAugmented reality can be an awkward experience, with users required to hold up a phone in front of their face to find the digital overlaps for physical objects. On the other hand, unlike with QR codes, there is no need to download a special reader to interact with the physical world.
The production costs for augmented reality can also be high, but the investment can be worth it when the end result is a fun and immersive experience that users remember.
Another issue with augmented reality is figuring out how to measure its return on investment.
“I think that 2013 will see a lot of buzz and interest in augmented realities, but more as a novice and clever concept,” Mr. Roche said. “They are great, but their ‘soft’ ROI creates an uncertainty about using them for core promotion.
“Some retailers, like Starbucks (with its Cup Magic), have done a good job using them to augment their holiday efforts,” he said.
Retail is one area, in particular, where QR codes and augmented reality have taken off, as merchants looks to push customer experiences beyond the physical and into the digital while bringing some added excitement to their stores.
For example, Walmart has been embracing augmented reality to create in-store experiences around retail promotions for popular films such as Spider-Man and The Avengers .
“The use of augmented reality and QR codes will continue to increase in 2013, all in the name of shopper convenience and retailers’ revenue,” said Kevin French, executive director and general manager of G2 Philadelphia.
“2013 will mark the most dramatic shift to every touch point becoming ‘retailified’ by bridging the gap between physical experiences and digital experiences to provide as much convenience to shoppers as possible,” he said.
“Both technologies will find their appropriate use in the value exchange between shoppers and retailers.”
Google Glass In 2013, brands will continue to use QR codes as a practical way to engage users and deliver useful content while augmented reality is likely to be used as a means to drive some excitement for the user.
Already, excitement is building for Google’s Glass project, which will offer an augmented reality-like experience via glasses that users wear.
“QR codes are really just about a quick short-cut to a digital site,” said David Bryant, chief creative officer at Organic, San Francisco. “They’re still useful – but interest in them has dropped naturally as they are no longer ‘news’
“We believe there will be an upswing in interest in AR with the advent of Google Glass,” he said. “People have started to develop applications using the SDK – the platform is solid and has enormous company behind it plus the love and attention of one of the Google’s founders.
“Although not pure AR, it has many AR-like features and will certainly restart interest in it.”

The State of Augmented Reality in 2012: Heads Up, Metadata, and Mapping

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1Cameras. They’re everywhere and in everything, usually as a person on the street we connect cameras with the idea that someone is watching us—but in our hands, they have a secondary purpose: they allow us to record and translate our own experience through a device. That’s a long way of saying, “My smartphone can use its camera to give me more information about what I can see—and at the same time share my experience.”

Right now, augmented reality is still in its infancy. It’s the stuff of video games and a slapped-on surface added to applications questing for a purchase in a culture that is putting smartphones in every hand. People already look to their phones for a great deal of information—maps, movie times, traffic reports, the news, movies, even self-recording—but it may still be a few more years before we see many people peering at the screen and looking (through the camera) at the world.
Augmented reality and mapping our world with metadata

In 2011 we talked about a trend of hyper local information delivery. Smartphones and other connected devices provide an excellent opportunity to allow people to hook into a nexus of information about the area around them—use Bluetooth, GPS, or some other fashion of getting information about your surrounds and your smartphone becomes a focus for businesses, museums, passersby, or others to deliver information that is fitting for wherever you’re standing.
This part of augmented reality is all about giving a second layer of context to place. Point your smartphone at a statue in a park and receive a short blurb about the statue’s history; point it at a business across the street and get a lunch menu; point it at the street and a menu appears offering information on when the next bus passes by or offers to hail a cab. All this from knowing where you’re standing and what the phone is pointed at.
Nokia has been attempting to lead this trend with augmented reality connected devices by baking the capability directly into their phones. As I’ve said above, using a camera and a way to give software context to where you’re standing, allows your phone to become a second-skin over what you can see—think about the applications to shopping such as this app developed by IBM to aid in personal shopping.
Using a smartphone or tablet to “look” at products on shelves and with access to a huge database of information a user could then use such an app not just to navigate the store (imagine being able to ask your phone, “Where’s the taco seasoning?”) but also to help you do a quick calculation such as price-per-ounce comparisons between products. All displayed in the surface of the mobile device as you’re looking “through” it at a shelf of products.
Going to cook dinner? Blend in a cookbook app that delivers a list of ingredients to the augmented reality app—which turns that into a shopping list, which provides a list of likely products, connects with the store’s own database of products, and even helps price it out.
Although the science fiction video SIGHT is a sterile look at how this technology might be used; it’s still an awesome view of how it could change our lives (if we didn’t sacrifice our humanity for the tool.)
Delivering information in a more convenient way
Augmented reality has applications for public transit, going from-place-to-place, public transit, and even just learning more about the world on the fly; but it also has a lot of applications for the workplace. One excellent way augmented reality can be used is for jobs that require a certain amount of on-the-spot information from either gauges, communication, or simulation.
In 2012, I came across an article about a welding mask that included a camera and a Heads Up Display (HUD) that enabled welders to finely adjust their welding technique to match the material and flame heat to get a stronger weld. Software would watch through the camera in real time and project to the welder’s vision a read out that enabled them to decide how quickly or slowly to weld the seam for the best results.
We’ve seen this sort of thing already with visualization systems such as Kinect hacked to help surgeons blur the lines between visualizing and working on a patient or enabling surgeons to manipulate images without touching anything (to maintain the antiseptic environment). Already much medical equipment does a great deal of context-adding when used to visualize the human body—it’s a perfect candidate to use a HUD for during surgery.
We’ve seen the first steps toward using vehicle windows as a HUD with “smart glass”. Although, right now, this is more about entertaining passengers than delivering more information to drivers—this might be useful for public transit drivers or delivery drivers to receive maps and other information that does not obstruct their line of sight but enables them to check a map without taking their eyes off the road.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Trial Rooms

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Mirrar Ornaments, Virtual Trial, Jewellery

Virtual Trial Room for Jewellery

Can one imagine walking into a branded store, or for that matter, even an Adidas or a Nike store, which does not have a fitting room? Yet, when the same brands sell online, people cannot try on their garments before buying. The biggest drawback of online shopping is that the buyer does not know how the garment will look on him or her or how good is the fit. While for online shoppers, this translates into apprehension and unnecessary headache if they have to return the purchase, portals too have to deal with a lot of “returns” and “exchanges”.

Not just for clothing, the same applies to online purchases for jewellery. After spending thousands of rupees, only to find that the jewellery does not look that great on you, is a disastrous experience. It not only leaves us dejected but makes us shun online shopping altogether.

It seems all the problem is with online shopping, so if we stop shopping online, we would always make right buy. No, there is more trouble to come in the normal stores. Have you ever bought something very enthusiastically at the store but realizing once you reach home, that you did not get a sweet deal? I would feel cheated, if it were me. The main reason is that we base our decisions on the available limited information, which is mostly provided by the shopkeeper. Too bad our brains can’t ‘google’ the information to land us the best deal. Moreover, I have not mentioned the problems of shopping like, endless waiting for trial rooms to be free, aimlessly wandering the store by not getting the right item, the long billing queues, the rush in the ‘sale’ season, and many others.

But then, is there someway to overcome these obstacles to make our shopping an exhilarating experience. An answer I can think of is merging the digital world with the real world. In simple terms, we need to create a bridge between the Internet and real life that can be crossed easily and at will. With the advent of smartphones and tablets infiltrating our lives completely, I say, lets use them to their fullest potential.

Amidst all the cacophony, a new technology has emerged, Augmented Reality. This technology promises to build a bridge between two diverging worlds the Internet and Real life leaving the possibilities, limitless. With the smartphones and the tablets as our road we can walk across this path easily. As our shopping case is concerned, we can use these devices to interact, search, share and try.

Let us take the case of Jewellery shopping. Suppose, a store we often visit has an iPad installed for us to have access to all the information we need. Additionally, if all the jewellery which the store has to offer is present in the iPad  and we would just have to flip the catalog in the iPad to check them out; would that not be great. Extending our imagination further, what if we could even try the jewellery on ourselves using the iPad’s camera, compare instantly between different items, seek opinions of our friends from social networks, even get recommendations for industry leaders; A whole new style of shopping. This concept of using an iPad to try on Jewellery is commonly termed as Virtual Trial. Now, we could use the power of internet coupled with AR to take shopping on a whole new level.

AR makes even greater sense in shopping online. When shopping online we always face the difficulty of how the item ‘looks’ on us. If we could use the webcam to try on clothes, jewellery, hats on ourselves, it would make our choices much simpler and easier to execute. So next time we shop online, we can be very sure that we made the right buy.

Shopping has evolved in both complexity and adoption. First came the concept of malls and now we are overwhelmed with online stores. Even Virtual shopping has been introduced by big retailers. In fact  many online stores have launched a simple image overlay version of the virtual trial rooms. Some retail outlets have started using various versions of iPad solutions for virtual trial. Already we are seeing advancements in the ability to deliver even more realistic virtual simulations, as well as the integration of virtual stimulus with other complementary technologies such as bio-metrics  neuroscience and facial recognition which, when executed together, can provide unprecedented understanding of how both human emotions and behavior intersect at the retail shelf.

AR vs VR and the applications of AR

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Virtual Reality was a rage once. It had a good run, especially during the 1990s, and perhaps culminating with Second Life in the decade which just closed. But virtual reality is old in the tooth. People are a lot more interested these days in “augmented reality,” or at least they are on Google where it surpassed “virtual reality” as a search term in last few years or so.

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Augmented Reality

 

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Virtual Reality

Virtual reality involves the creation of a computer-generated world that a person can interact with in such a way that he or she believes that the virtual world is real. Augmented reality, however, is a meeting of virtual reality and real life, as a computer image melds with real-life images to create a composite for the user to interact with. If virtual reality is a complete immersion in a digital world, augmented reality(AR) is more a digital overlay onto the world. It enhances the real world with digital data, and therefore it is much more interesting than a completely fabricated environment. AR has an element of magic attached to it.

AR has recently been highlighted in various marketing campaigns as a cool way to show products via PC or mobile phone, such as in the concert launch by BBC. But AR is much more than just a gimmick, and has the potential to change product and brand communications in remarkable ways:

There are endless possibilities to add useful and interesting information onto a world we and marketers are already in. If you want a marketing reality, then this is the one to go for. You should put your thinking caps on and find new and attractive ways to market your products.
You can check more interesting applications at the blog : Augmented Reality

What is Augmented Reality ?

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augmented reality

Our fantasy of “What if walls talk?” is now over. They actually can, but all we need to do is to correctly configure them and tag the walls with appropriate properties to augment. Imagine a world with full of hyperlinks that are linked with all the useful information. The entire world would be nested with information, with one link leading to another.

In simplest of words, Augmented Reality(AR) is the art of super-imposing computer generated content over a live view of the world. It superimposes graphics, audio and other sense enhancements from computer screens onto real time environments. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulated reality. Instead, it takes a real world object to add contextual data to it.

AR is not a new concept. In fact we have seen it in many different ways over the years. From the yellow first-down lines sketched over a television football game to the movie who “Who framed Roger Rabbit” or even examples as basic as where a projector’s been used to project atop a real setting-all are examples of virtual graphics being superimposed upon a real-life situation.

ar

Augmented Reality is a term coined 19 years ago, coined by Tom Caudell, a researcher at Boeing. He came up with this term when he was working on a project to make it easier to assemble large bundles of electric wire for an aircraft on the floor.
Development of the needed technology for augmented reality systems, has taken a boost with the “Microsoft Kinect” being launched into the market. It has invited a whole lot of developers and researchers to develop products based on AR. In no time this wave of AR has covered the world of research and development, and it’s not wrong to say that it is one of those big things which is there to stay.

Why should we care about AR?
Augmented reality is already a part of your life now. I’m sure you watch a lot of sport matches. The sports broadcast teams use Augmented Reality to project information right on top of the field to analyze some shots, etc., AR is turning out to be the future of Education and the Future of literacy. Writing history directly on reality is not too far. Augmented Reality is not the simple concept you think of projections and augmentations. It’s all about bridging reality and virtuality in the user’s hands.

But as far as I expect, all that I can predict in near future is:

  • A conference room with augmented documents
  • Book’s Index pages that give you a glimpse of what’s in for the reader
  • Food items that can tell you how much calories are present in them
  • Roads instructing you to your destination
  • Walls acting like your computer monitors.

In the education and literacy perspective, AR will bring the written literacy with visual literacy together. There are a lot of things that we could think of in AR. But let me restrict to all these listed above. Keep looking for the sequel of this analysis soon.