Five ideas to create real value with AR in a post-COVID-19 world
Being connected now mostly means being connected through technology. One technology deserves special attention these days: augmented reality might raise our level of connection to a new level soon.
In the past weeks, we’ve seen the world change in the blink of an eye. And even though the hard isolation will come to an end, we’ve realized already that this phase has been changing many of our old habits and grew new ones.
What appeared unusual just a month ago, turned into a daily necessity:
Instead of a kiss or a handshake, now we exchange Spock’s Vulcan greetings or corona-elbow-bumps when we meet (if we meet)! But mostly, we don’t.
In the past weeks, we mastered virtual meet-ups not only on a technical but also on a human level.
We realized that online conversations can be just as valuable as in-person ones.
In fact, we wonder, why haven’t we invited our far-away-friends to a virtual glass of wine on a Saturday night before? We’ve had Skype installed for years now.
Or could it be that some of our encounters will not be worth a trip with the plane in the future anymore?
In the work context, will we stop raising an eyebrow suspiciously at co-workers who work from home in the future? Now we know that they will just be as helpful as they can be in the office. Maybe we will change our mindset by trusting instead of controlling each other at work?
Right now, we are in the process of change, creating a whole new remote reality.
But it is not the tech that we are using that is new.
It’s the attitude that we have developed towards it that changed the game.
Augmented reality will be the technology that is going to take our connections to the next level.
As a technology, AR has been around for quite a while now too.
But up until now, not too many AR apps transformed our everyday lives. After catching some Pokémons, most AR apps entered a lonely existence on our smartphones.
But this is going to change rapidly. From now on, there is a clear impact AR can make.
Here are five areas where we will see augmented reality bring true transformation, likely very soon:
1. Work: Video calls for office workers are one thing. But fixing a problem with a machine that is in a different location, or giving instructions on the assembly line from a distance is a different story. Most experts would sit in a plane and fly out to get these tasks done. Today remote assistance apps such as Scope AR can save this trip. A camera lens of a smartphone, a tablet, or a smart glass recognizes the scene. The expert can see it and direct the local worker to take the right steps in fixing the problem in real-time.
2. Culture: Exhibits and museums might not be able to open up to a large number of visitors for a longer time. So priorities need to shift quickly: instead of using digital channels as a driving force to the physical museum, the digital space (and people’s homes) must become an essential part of the overall strategy. It won’t be about the AR app that explains the pieces in the exhibition. It will be about the untold stories of monuments, streets, and details we haven’t paid much attention to in the past. Does that crack on the building hold an interesting story from the last war? Or later on: by pointing the smartphone’s camera at the museum, will I see how many visitors are mingling on the inside? Instantly I’d know if a visit with a secure distance to others might be feasible or not. Also, I could possibly secure a ticket instantly for a timeslot later on. Let’s use the outside of the building to open it up to the world and give a sneak peek into the treasures of the inside, mumok in Vienna already started doing this.
3. Shopping: We will keep being concerned about hygiene whenever we go out, this will also become our new normal. But it gets tedious to buy pants, a lipstick, or a dress by clicking on a screen without ever trying it — and having to send it back if it does not fit. In the long run, the retail industry must jump into AR quickly to create more compelling shopping experiences. It’s about staying safe and healthy, by putting on three versions of this new shirt virtually. So we might see a bunch of helpful “try-before-you-buy” services, just as we already know them from furniture.
4. Education: Schools and universities will stay closed for a longer period of time as well. Remote learning and forced homeschooling in quarantine will require digital tools to keep students connected, engaged, and motivated. AR could do the trick: learn about the periodic system by assembling the molecules yourself until you get H2O. In Japan, kids can already use an augmented card game to learn to program. Or understand the content of a book better because augmented animations brought a foreign language to life.
5. Customer service: dishwasher broken during the pandemic? No clue what the error code is about? Results on the google search aren’t helping? Customer service calls (especially in the context of a pandemic) can be long and tedious — and let’s face it, troubleshooting over the phone can be confusing and ineffective. So what if the manufacturer of your dishwasher would be able to send an expert virtually to your kitchen? You’d just point the camera of your smartphone to the problem. The expert could give you clear and helpful instructions remotely on what to do. Et voila, AR saves the day.
These effective AR solutions are being boosted through the virus. But as the situation cools down, we will find our old ways back into real life.
Surely we will want to integrate the advantages and conveniences of this new reality and take these changes also into a post-COVID-19 world.
In the end, AR will help us be closer to each other. Now, in these times, when we are forced to stay apart — and even more so after.
