Top 10 Examples of Computer Vision and Augmented Reality
From the way we communicate with loved ones to the way we shop every week, we now rely on technology in ways we never thought possible. In the marketing world, technology has enabled brands to offer tailored experiences to all customers. Even those with a small marketing budget have been able to introduce chatbots, mobile-ready websites, and other services.
Today, we want to focus on two particular areas: augmented reality and computer vision. In particular, we want to highlight the brands who have introduced this technology and seen significant results. Before we start, let’s get a better understanding of what the terms mean.
Augmented Reality — Augmented reality (AR) enhances the real-world environment. For example, a furniture company could allow customers to visualize how a sofa would look in their living room so they know before they buy it. Using a smartphone camera, customers can place the sofa virtually and make a decision from here.
Computer Vision — Computer vision describes the process of using digital images and videos to gain stronger insights from users. Information from data sources is extracted automatically, analyzed, and understood. In recent years, it has been used for medical image analysis, facial recognition, surveillance, pollution monitoring, and other highly advanced systems.
How are companies using these two technologies? Let’s take a look!
Augmented Reality
Home Depot
Home Depot is a leader in this market. Their video on augmented reality was first uploaded to YouTube way back in 2013. They released AR for their mobile app, which allowed customers to see what certain products would look like in their own home. Without having to leave the home, without having to take any risks, they could make a fully informed decision.
Over time, this feature has progressed and Home Depot has become even more popular as smartphone cameras have evolved. With a clearer image than ever before, customers enjoy ‘placing’ items in their home without even having to open the front door. Whether you want a new lamp in the living room or a whole new refrigerator, Home Depot allows you to try before you buy.
Ikea
In a similar way, Ikea also allows prospective customers to test out products using the Ikea Place app. Not only this, but it seems the brand is also working on more improvements for the app including AI assistants and virtual warehouses.
Available on iOS and Android, it uses the ARKit on Apple devices and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, even stated that Place is the future of shopping. Why is this idea so popular? Because it alleviates one of the biggest problems of online shopping: not being able to physically touch or see the product in its future environment. For a long time, every online purchase brought with it some form of risk. If a lamp or new kitchen table didn’t look right, we would have a lengthy return process to endure. With AR, the risk of making the wrong purchase reduces because we’re actively testing products in our own home.
L’Oreal
Next, we have the famous haircare and cosmetics brand L’Oreal. Back in 2017, they decided to start investing in augmented reality and it led to a huge marketing campaign towards the end of 2018. Working alongside Facebook, there was an ad campaign that allowed consumers to try on cosmetics artificially using their phone.
Not so long ago, the brand bought ModiFace, an AR business, and they have been pushing the limits of augmented reality ever since. According to some studies, L’Oreal experienced a 300% increase in conversion rates.
Estée Lauder
Just before L’Oreal, Estée Lauder jumped at the chance to include AR in their marketing campaigns, and it’s another name that has enjoyed success as a result. After teaming up with Perfect Corp, an AR developer, they used mobile devices to provide consumers with live makeup demonstrations. Six hundred employees in different countries were able to communicate with industry experts through a YouCam AR training program. They learned how to use AR, how to use the tools to help customers, and more.
After opening up the AR service to customers, the following quarter saw Estée Lauder profits reach just under $3.3 billion (a 10% increase compared to the same quarter in the previous year).
Sephora
Sticking with the makeup niche, Sephora is the final name we want to discuss for augmented reality. Allowing customers to test makeup products virtually has provided them with the platform they needed to move away from a reliance on physical store sales. Most cosmetic companies rely on people visiting stores in person and testing products. Now, Sephora has no such problem.
Additionally, Sephora has been developing AI solutions to further improve the consumer experience in terms of product recommendations and finding the right colors for certain products. Customers are not just getting a similar experience online, rather in some cases, they’re enjoying a better experience compared to physical stores.
Computer Vision
SenseTime
Originally from China, this is a company making waves when in computer vision, and it all comes down to facial recognition technology. For banking and other purposes, the picture analysis feature improves security and verification processes. In addition to facial recognition, the company has worked on mobile image processing and other AI solutions for brands all over the globe.
Nauto
This time, we go to California where Nauto was developed in 2015. Now with offices in Japan and Ireland, they work with commercial and autonomous fleets in order to reduce the number of collisions (thanks to advanced AI solutions). As the world continues to move towards autonomous vehicles, Nauto is a key name as a passionate driver (excuse the pun!) of safety. With their intelligent systems, it’s possible to look at drivers and how they interact with the road and their own vehicle. From here, the aim is to prevent collisions by dealing with common distractions.
Hawk-Eye Innovations
Operating mainly in the sports niche, Hawk-Eye is a piece of technology that people either love or hate. While traditional sports fans may despise the addition of technology to traditional cricket, there’s no denying that it has helped umpires become more accurate with their decisions. Aside from cricket, Hawk-Eye technology can be found in around 20 sports across 90 countries.
Now a part of Sony, it can track balls accurately using vision processing technology. If an official makes an incorrect decision, teams can challenge the call and the technology will provide a definitive answer. With the likes of VAR in soccer and Hawk-Eye in tennis, it’s only a matter of time before all sports embrace some form of technology. Recently, there has been lots of talk around digitalizing the strike zone in baseball, which would use similar technology.
Intello Labs
With Intello Labs, we find a brand that has been busy in all sorts of technological niches, including:
- Machine learning
- Image recognition
- Computer vision
- Neural networks
- Consumer behavior
- Competitive landscape
- Artificial intelligence
- Deep learning
Computer vision has been a particular focus. For example, farmers are now able to photograph specific crops in order to upload it to the Intello Labs database and learn all about it. Depending on their needs, they can learn about weeds, pests, diseases, and more. Available in ten countries, they now read over one million images per day.
OrCam
Lastly, OrCam has offered a second chance at independence for those who are either fully or partially blind. When using the MyEye2, consumers can read digital and printed text, recognize hand gestures, identify products in real time, and pick out bank notes for payments. What’s more, they have also invested in MyReader2 which uses AI in order to help blind people to read.
Summary
With these ten brands leading the way in augmented reality and computer vision, we’re in good hands for the future. As technology continues to develop, it will be interesting to see how far we can go. At first, AR started as a luxury in the shopping experience. Now, some will say that it actually makes the shopping experience better than offline. Now, where it’s impossible to physically touch a product, it allows us to check the size and shape of items like furniture or the look of cosmetics.
Whatever happens, it will certainly be interesting to watch!
