Society as we know it is evolving as layers of digital information are placed in the real world. The emergence of a new technology called Augmented Reality (AR) is altering everyday life and in no time, it will become part of almost every profession. This technology applies a computer-generated image on a viewer’s reality. It can extend our experience of the world unlike anything before, and help us see and understand many things better. It blurs the line between the real and the virtual world and it amplifies one’s experience. But how is this relevant to a business? Read these 5 reasons and find out how AR can help your business be more successful.
- In-depth Knowledge and Training
One of the stronger arguments in favor of investing in AR technology is the training and education it can offer. Nothing has ever come this close to offering such an absorbing and interactive feel involving all our senses, as opposed to a boring lecture or some dull reading instructions. AR enables the users to be taken through an all-encompassing step-by-step process, and this kind of approach will increase their knowledge and understating at a much faster pace. And employees can go over these learning processes an infinite number of times, not to mention that this kind of learning is much simpler and a hundred times more interesting.
Let’s take medical training as an example. Surgical dummies and books can take surgeons only so far – AR technology has no limitations. It will enable surgeons to perform all kinds of virtual surgeries without jeopardizing actual lives. Or let’s take life scenarios? It can simulate dangerous life and work situations, like earthquakes in Mexico City, and train workers what to do and how to follow protocol better than any other simulation. AR will help save lives.
- Cost Reduction
Investing in AR technology will also lead to significant cost reductions. How so? Well, if your employees can learn new things and acquire new knowledge in, let’s say, 2 days, and before they needed at least 2 months for the same training, won’t that hyper-speed process save you a lot of money? And seeing how AR offers practically limitless options, it is will undoubtedly motivate your workers to cooperate more, work harder than before, and inspire new ideas. These factors lead to a significant cost reduction of your business.
- More Convincing for the Clients
With new AR technology, the overall productivity will undoubtedly improve the way you conduct your business and approach potential clients, and this is even truer for companies in the retail industry. Agents can use AR gadgets to help clients choose their products that entirely suit their needs. Customer service can offer demos or show the product with all its characteristics and possibilities. Soon it will be possible to try on clothes without actually putting them on, or see how a piece of furniture fits into a home before even purchasing it. Rise Engineers Civil Design Solutions, a consulting company, have already incorporated AR into their business and it has made them more efficient and their clients more satisfied. Options are practically endless, but rest assured that clients will be able to make more wise and informed decisions, and it will reflect positively on your business.
- Beat Everyone to the Finish Line
How does a business like Apple or Google become so successful? By seeing farther than other business, and by taking chances. Business like these try to offer the public something never seen before and make sure their products and services become a necessity. That’s what AR can do for your business. Don’t settle with status quo. Take your business to the next level. You’ll be able to train your team with more efficacy and at a hyper-speed pace. This will give your business an unchallenged advantage over your competitors.
- Better Brand Image
AR can also help you build a better brand image for your business. For example, you can let your clients have a peak “behind the scenes” to see what your business does. So, if you’re a construction company, you can show your clients how the whole infrastructure will be put together. They can see individual parts of it and the whole process of it being built. And, as it was already mentioned previously, you can let clients try your out products or services before they decide to buy them. If you’re a beauty brand, you can let women try on a bathing suit so they can see how it looks on them. All of this can create a deeper and more meaningful relationship between the clients and your brand.
Soon Augmented Reality will take over the market, there’s no question about it. The only question is what businesses will be at the forefront and what in the rear. You need to make sure your business is in the first group. Those who recognize AR as the next big thing will get their lion’s share of the market.
Photo Credit: qecdwnke17 Flickr via Compfight cc
Lena Hemsworth spent a better part of her life working as an expert in business innovation and management at Green Web Marketing in Sydney. Now she is a freelance blogger and copywriter. When she is not working she enjoys kite surfing and taking care of house plants.