Augmented reality (AR) is already on the tech horizon and is all set to change the next generation of solutions, with a sleuth of possibilities. Mobile users are going to enjoy & witness how augmented reality will bring “even more smart” & powerful solutions in their hands & heads, literally. AR-based apps are going to force mobile devices for one more change, marching towards next generation. While most AR apps rely on mobile device sensors, recent researches and development are coming with more stable and dynamic applications equipped for real-time interactions with the world around.
What is Augmented Reality (AR)?
Augmented Reality refers to a computer-generated reality that is capable of interacting and actively take part in the physical world outside, blurring the division between the physical world of reality and the virtual world.
After the success of Virtual Reality (VR) in gaming applications, the technology leaders are now moving towards using the Augmented Reality to create solutions for the industries and the enterprises. Even though there are only a few such mobile apps in the market today, like a dinosaur popping up while you are recording video of a national theme park, AR-based apps can really offer a facelift to enterprise mobility.
What does the Market Analysis say about AR?
AR is quite promising for the future growth. If we look at the revenue forecast by Digi-Capital, the revenue is going to shoot up to USD 120B by 2020.
A lot of the revenue out of this is expected to come from the sale of hardware. But only the hardware won’t be sufficient & is going to need interesting & useful apps to make a sense of it. This will bring new kind of apps on the horizon that we could just imagine at the moment or see in the movies. A lot of industries including healthcare, tourism, aviation, defense, transport, fashion, manufacturing, navigation, education, marketing, sports, real estate – to name a few will benefit from this.
AR apps are going to offer a more fluid experience
Augmented Reality apps with next-generation capabilities, offer a more dynamic experience beyond static visuals and known UI cliches. Next generation AR apps are going to be more adaptive, seamlessly integrating and ready to deliver more interactive and smooth user experience across multiple devices. Visualize about a bunch of executives, discussing the new product specs, using the augmented model of the product, on their mobiles within a conference room, interactively updating the model! The new range of wearable devices like the Microsoft’s HoloLens or Facebook’s Rift along with interfaces and software like Unity3D are going to revolutionize the experience and allow even more fluidity than ever before along with the mobiles. The AR apps for mobile devices have to take wearable interfaces into account to ensure a smooth and transitional experience across multiple devices.
Building blocks of the AR
Let’s look at the major building blocks of AR. Like a lot of other such technologies, the basic building blocks are going to be hardware devices, contents & software platforms & delivery services.
The world is going to witness many different kinds of hardware devices including very common ones such as head mounted devices, eyeglasses, hand held and some uncommon ones such as contact lenses, Spatial and so on.
The content is a major factor where it brings the real & virtual world closer & merges them. The content creation will require mixing creativity with programming and innovative and crazy ideas.
The software platforms will mostly be the standard ones such as Windows, Android, iOS, Linux with the common environments like Visual Studio, Unity3D, ARToolKit, Vuforia & so on. The programming will require the use of good algorithms for object detection, location tracking as well as image, face & gesture recognition to name a few.
The biggest challenge in Augmented Reality lies in leveraging the technology for enterprise grade apps across mobile and wearable platforms. While enterprise mobility has come of age with sophisticated UI and performance attributes, it is the augmented reality that can make it deliver never-before user experience. The challenge is going to be the performance of the apps as most of these apps use a lot of image processing & pattern recognition while communicating with other devices simultaneously.
Another challenge is also going to be the storage – either locally or in the cloud. Thanks to AR in mobile apps, now the businesses can easily boost the digital presence of their products and services for a multitude of customers. AR can also help narrow the geographical distance by making the communication more interactive. This tremendous opportunity is equally contested by the challenges in leveraging the technology for different layers of user experience through enterprise apps. The another challenge for the developers is also going to be the fusion & standardization of technology. Think about the use case where one user has Samsung’s Gear VR, the 2nd user has HTC’s Vive & the 3rd one has Google’s cardboard! Probably a cloud solution can help them communicate.
What VOLANSYS can offer in augmented reality mobile solutions?
VOLANSYS Technologies over the years has solidified its reputation as one of the trusted cloud solutions provider and enterprise app developers leveraging state of the art technologies. The company has also built connected apps, “performance optimized” solutions, as well as industrial solutions, thanks to the vast experience in system level programming. The company has created a niche presence in the field of highly sophisticated AR-enabled mobile apps for a variety of enterprise niches and business purposes. By leveraging AR-enabled business apps over cloud platform, VOLANSYS has made itself a technology solutions provider for future focused enterprises.
Would you like to give your enterprise apps a push with next generation augmented reality features? We can find you the right solutions. Just drop us a mail with your requirements at [email protected] or call us on +1 510 358 4310.
About the Author: Samir Thaker
Being part of the IT industry for more than 20 years, Samir has been associated with VOLANSYS Technologies as a Solutions Architect & Director of presales. His major experience includes building optimized & high-performing mobile apps & software solutions for various industrial & B2B customers in various domains.
