Blockchain and IoT make AR part of daily experience
Let’s gets ready for upcoming transformational changes modeling future. Here I analyze important trends in the economy towards new digital experiences, which associated with innovative technologies including blockchain. In this article, I explore augmented reality, the technology that promises to become an important part of daily routines in the nearest future.
Attention economy expands
Today material objects become no longer trendy. For centuries people collected treasures, fought for lands and bought luxury but today they are more and more interested in virtual trophies. Recognition in social media and gaming achievements became a tangible aspect of modern life. Why is this happening?
Let’s take a look at the concept of “attention economy”, which helps us to understand the social processes under the virtual reality intrusion. Human attention is the source. We pay attention to something we like or need, such as hobbies, work, family, games, health. We attract attention buying trendy clothes, beautiful cars, posting and commenting on social networks. Companies capture and buy attention with their advertisements. As the attention is a valuable resource or commodity, particular industries measure, manage and distribute it. Virtual and digital industries handle this type of commodity fast and efficiently using such tools as social networks, search engines, video games, and internet media.
At the same time, for customers, virtual attention is better than physical commodities. Luxury cars are expensive, but everyone can easily make a photo near or inside a car. They attract attention that easily measured and cost nothing. Attending events and places, producing interesting content and communicating with virtual audience become more valuable than buying things.
Virtual products and services may eventually solve industrial economy problems such as drops in demand, ecological disasters, and unemployment due to automation. It will happen when virtual space, powered by the attention economy, disrupts our daily routines with personalized augmented reality.
AR based on IoT and blockchain
Augmented reality, or AR, is technology that constructs virtual systems upon the real world. Unlike virtual reality, or VR, which immerse us in another place using headsets, haptic devices and motion sensors, AR brings digital information into the real world. Augmented reality may show itself through personal smartphone displays, headphones, smart glasses and by public video output devices. To start augmented reality experience we also need input contextual data into such devices. The easiest example is the smartphone camera that captures faces and adds cute filters on the go. To play with AR like that we need the Internet and an application utilizing computer vision technology installed on the smartphone.
Today AR is technologically constrained with existing networks, software and devices. The value of AR comes from its seamless integration to our everyday life. Dozens of applications, heavy Internet traffic, and VR-headsets do not help to make AR everyday experience. To apply contextual data to the real world we need the different approach to data storage, networking and program execution.
This is where the combination of IoT and blockchain technologies let AR become a distinct part of our daily experiences. Mesh network, decentralized data storage, and immediate reaction are the three main features of this collaboration.
Mesh network — a decentralized network topology in which nodes cooperate to distribute data to each other. Being a part of secure blockchain ecosystem, multiple IoT devices may communicate with each other and users’ smartphones directly. Using fast and secure peer-to-peer connection through local Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, AR experience does not require Internet.
Decentralized data storage on IoT devices. The nearest device can deliver contextual information at the place where it needed. The blockchain is the best technology to keep the data protected, available and backed up in the network.
Push-notifications and other immediate reaction scenarios when the certain AR experience is available at a current location. Smart contracts in blockchain can execute AR scenarios when they meet specific conditions such as user characteristics and permissions, time and location, or previous interactions with other users. Smart contracts make AR and IoT proactive technologies functioning autonomously without the need for centralized authority.
Scalable, reliable and trustless blockchain technology enables peer-to-peer contractual behavior without any third party. This technological basis opens fantastic opportunities to implement AR and transform our everyday experience.
VR for retail marketing
Retail, restaurant and personal services are the first businesses who will attract customers’ attention applying AR based on IoT and blockchain.
Targeting and personalization
E-commerce developed a wide range of marketing tools including targeting to customer groups, retargeting, recommendations, personalized loyalty programmers, referral programs and much more.
What if retail shops use the same capabilities? They could send a notification to a customer, who search for some particular products or services when he or she approaches the store. Stores may send special offers and navigation information to members of loyalty programs when they enter the shopping mall. If your friend recommended a restaurant, the review appears on phone screen when you are strolling nearby.
Attracting attention
Already stores use cameras and interactive public screen with AR features. They surprise customers with virtual fitting rooms, which capture customers on camera and shows their trendy looks in clothes from this store. If they could extract some personal information about customers, they would have shown them clothes that they recently browsed on the Internet.
Stores may encourage users to come there physically by arranging virtual sights designed to attract a targeted audience with specific interests. Video game store can gather many fans if it places there virtual game character visible only through smartphone and enables interactions with it.
Games and social interactions
Foursquare, Pokemon Go and many other apps have shown that transferring virtual communications to physical space is very engaging.
Virtual games become real
Augmented reality enables the vivid experience, excited communications and team-work game mechanics that can capture the attention of huge auditory. With blockchain, those games will become more adaptive to a physical place, context data, and game players. For example, participants and game algorithms would place virtual objects only in save public places where no harm could be done. The course of the game may be changed adopting to the behavior of particular gamers creating mesmeric gaming experiences. Local business will connect to AR games their output devices such as speakers, screens, and projectors, to show secret signals to gamers when they walk nearby.
Targeted networking
AR will make communication in real live more efficient and smooth. In professional conferences, participants may compose virtual business cards that shows important information about their interests and competencies. Other VR application will help people to state their social status and find each other based on hobbies, language exchange practices, dating preferences and so on, or to avoid potentially dangerous people from blacklists.
Location-based solutions
Connecting with surrounding IoT devices that utilize blockchain, personal devices becomes multifunctional navigators. Users can build routes based on their preferences, discover new places and interact with itineraries and other people.
Virtually navigated tourism
AR will turn an ordinary tourist route into a fascinating story with special places, characters, messages from other people. AR apps will navigate tourist using smartphone camera and screen showing the direction. When sightseers approach historical place IoT device will send the audio or visual data in their language. Guides and local businesses can leave their message near sights helping tourists and advertising their services.
Broadcasting important messages to crowds
Using AR authorities and coordinators of public events may broadcast important information to participants, such as location maps, navigation, contextual data or event schedule. In case of emergency IoT devices connected in a mesh network could be the only means of communication between people and authority. They will help to analyze and model the emergency and to send actionable data.
Those use cases just a part of the bigger trend of adoption digital marketing tools, game mechanics and social interactions from digital space to real world. Comparing such interactions in physical space with computer device we can say that AR is output technology, IoT inputs data, and blockchain processes information with its smart contract and decentralized network.
Combination of the technologies will effectively distribute human attention and manage behavior in the same way as it works in social networks, online games, internet shopping. Technological giants and startups already invest in AR products, as this trend is very important for the economic landscape.
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