Augmented Reality (AR) has moved from first adopter trend to <gasp> the mainstream public.
All new tech seems to start out with overhyped media coverage, wild speculation of its adoption, and often than not, weaponization by the military.
AR is no exception.
While initial attempts were fun, game-like experiences, more businesses are finding seemingly mundane uses that will truly make our daily lives easier — assuming we’re OK with wearables or keeping our phone out all the time.
Here’s some I’ve seen or read about, and some I’m recommending. I’ll let you guess which is which. ;)
Use cases:
- Safety posters in hallways that offer additional help or training material
- Signage that can speak directions or display a 3D walking map to a department or desk
- Smart cities
- Business cards that visually describe your company’s products and services, hours, map and directions, profile clips, etc.
- Conference giveaways that actually talk about the company and why you should work with them
- Print books with author video interviews embedded in the colophon
- SIRI / Alexa / Google Mini style functionality attached to ordinary objects
- Cradle-to-grave chips that talk to us about how the product was actually used
- Medicine bottles that read their instructions out loud and alarm people when it’s time to take them
- Instructional sheets for projects that project relevant how-to videos
- Maps that tale historical traffic data into consideration when offering up drive times for future events
- If NextDoor could create a way for all the neighborhood cameras to work together and show a multi-angle view of the neighborhood (for crime, watching kids, etc.)
- City tours, everywhere. Smart windows on buses could highlight points of local or historical interest in a city to its passengers
- Pet collar tags that sync with the owner’s phone and prevent a non-caretaker from taking the pet and would geo-track a stolen pet, even sounding an alarm
- Library cards that tell you when a book you want is on the shelf and reserve it for you for 48 hours. They could even project reviews or author statements to encourage you to try new authors
- Products that recognize you or a family member may have an allergy to them and highlight before purchase
MIT’s Media Lab is a great place to keep up on developments in this area. Check it out!
