Physically Passive Augmented Reality
I’m writing this short post on September 19, 2017 at the heart of the marketing hurricane raised by ARKit and ARCore for mobile phones, but still I hope to be heard :=)
Since 2010, we at Augmented Pixels, Inc. have tested a lot of UI / UX hypotheses in Augmented Reality (from the AR Basketball game, which was featured by Apple, to the furniture store in Augmented Reality (AR), AR Browser and Pokemon Go analogs) and in the end came to one trivial conclusion:
Because Augmented Reality applications usually require physical movements (standing up – bending over – walking and so on), users very quickly stop using them REPEATEDLY if they do not receive either a good dose of endorphin or do not see the HIGHEST utility from the mobile phone application, the use of which requires increased calorie burning (let’s face it, this is a fairly rational behavior in biological terms).
In addition, some groups of users can not physically use applications with Augmented Reality. The clearest example of this could be children under 7 years old. It is very difficult for them to stretch out their hands for 5 minutes to hold the phone, while holding an iPad is simply impossible.
As a support for my words, you can see that the only popular b2c cases in the AR now are face filters. Using them does not require physical activity + gives a large dose of positive emotions.
What is waiting for the AR in the next 2-3 years? Will its popularity be limited only by face filters?
In my understanding, AR will totally integrate into the professional (B2b solutions) and everyday (B2C) activities only when effective and useful AR glasses will become the mass market.
Only in this case, the concept of “physically passive augmented reality” is possible.
The essence of this concept is very simple – the work of Augmented Reality technologies and Artificial Intelligence takes place in a “parallel” to the main human activity mode (analysis of the environment with cameras and other sensors).
In this case, the technologies will benefit and offer the services that are built on AR / AI, WITHOUT DEMANDIND any SPECIAL ACTIONS from the consumer.
Only after the implementation of such a concept, the AR will become really the basic infrastructure technology, finally changing our daily life and the world!
Is it possible to develop popular solutions with AR for mobile phones or is it better to wait for glasses?
Of course, it is worth developing solutions with AP for mobile phones as well.
I’m more than convinced that there is a killer AR application for phones. You just need to very carefully approach the UI / UX and focus either on the usefulness or on the entertainment of the solution, because your application will not be used for a long time “for the sake of the Augmented Reality”.
In any case, now it is the time when it’s worth starting to work with AR in a long term, so that at the moment of appearance of AR glasses on the market, you will have experience, contacts, data and users, that are trained to work with AR!
I can not say publicly in this article how long is it until the AR glasses reach a mass market, but it is important to remember that radical technological changes often happen faster than we expect! : =)
P.S.
I will be very glad to hear alternative points of view: =)
Best regards,
v @ vactivity.com
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