How can you capitalize on the most promising AR mobile app use cases?

We learn best when we connect emotionally with what we experience. We also evaluate situations based on our previous experiences. And previous learning experiences may be dominated by the look and feel of the book, you've read about something, but learning can also be spatial, where you experience a subject with more sensory and physical engagement. In augmented reality, it can be spatially enriched by providing information in context, and this approach has been shown in studies to enhance learning opportunities. It is therefore a perfect way to promote education and training, but with the disadvantage of a highly complex development process where more factors need to be taken into account than with other types of media.

Augmented Reality (AR) has been effectively utilized in various educational and training scenarios, enhancing learning experiences through immersive and interactive content. Here are some real-life examples of AR mobile apps in the field of education and training: WWF Free Rivers (WWF Switzerland): Use Case: Environmental Education Example: The WWF Free Rivers app uses AR to educate users about the importance of rivers and their ecosystems. Users can explore 3D maps, learn about aquatic life, and understand the impact of human activities on river environments. IKEA Place: Use Case: Interior Design and Furniture Education Example: IKEA Place allows users to visualize and place virtual furniture in their real-world living spaces.

Engagement rates and user involvement with digital products are key and a key performance indicator for most products. AR is mostly doing a good job in entertaining people and keep them interested. In the economy of attention, it presents a huge opportunity to capture attention through engagement. Combined with conversational AI as interface, nearly every scenario can be reconstructed to be more interactive and impactful - being used for social good or ... However, it comes with hidden risks associated with immersion and the potential to disconnect from the real world. Striking a balance between captivating experiences and mindful consumption (see Social Media today) is crucial in leveraging AR's potential responsibly.

E-commerce is one of the fields where augmented reality can have a huge impact for most of the companies in that space instead of a printed catalog or traditional website. A potential customer or sales team can have access to the entire catalog using a smartphone not just to see the product but to interact with it, make sure it fits in place, and check different colors/combinations. From furniture to swimming pools if a digital twin can be created it can be used to improve sales, some studies confirm a higher conversion rate and fewer returns when using augmented reality.

AR in retail and commerce can merge the concepts of education and entertainment. On one hand, there's a need to inform about the product, conveying its functions, price, and factual components. Maybe too boring stuff. On the other hand, it's about driving up the engagement rate, ensuring that people are excited to interact with the brand and the product itself. Ultimately, a balance must be maintained between how much interaction and motivation the users need to bring to the table, and how much can be generated by the product itself. It's about convincing with the product's presence and understanding how it operates within the space it occupies.

A promising use case for AR mobile apps is tourism and navigation One notable example is Over The Reality and Google, which is a platform for building augmented reality experiences on devices.it includes features related to geo-based AR experiences. Maps uses augmented reality to overlay directional arrows and information on the real-world view captured by the smartphone's camera. Citymapper is a navigation app that incorporates AR elements for urban exploration. PeakVisor: Mountain and Landscape Exploration PeakVisor is an AR app designed for mountain enthusiasts and hikers. It identifies mountain peaks in the user's surroundings by overlaying labels and information on the camera view AR City (Berlin.de):City Exploration

In tourism, AR offers an exceptional way to transcend time, revitalizing historical structures or previsualizing future developments in public projects. Virtuality brings the past and future into the present, eliciting emotions that can be channeled into emotions associated with a context. It also leverages emotions to influence decisions and cultural evolution. So promoting for a specific destination is quite an easy task with AR in tourism. This ability of AR to blend time and enhance experiences with emotional depth holds the potential to transform how we explore and connect with different cultures and destinations.

Augmented Reality is suited to promoting health and wellness by reflecting the user's current lifestyle and providing context-specific information that has a proven impact on health. For instance, it can help prevent unhealthy eating habits or provide motivational feedback on the benefits of walking to a destination and its effects on personal health - See the demo video of the AI Pin by humane, where the amount of almonds in your hand are measured. Most future-use-cases have to be seen in combination with AI. Moreover, collected body data can be displayed in AR, influencing the user's physical condition, and uniquely visualize in a spatial context how one's health is progressing, offering highly individualized health insights.

In industry and in companies, AR offers fascinating use cases that can lead to cost savings and higher employee satisfaction. For example, AR can streamline and ensure quality in onboarding by providing context-specific information, eliminating the need to review extensive written documentation or assign staff who would otherwise be busy with their own work. This efficiency in training frees up resources to improve employee satisfaction and culture, as the time traditionally spent on onboarding can now be invested in professional development and cultivating company culture, replacing less efficient forms of interaction. The potential of impact is diverse and enormous!

AR is not yet at the point where businesses, designers, developers and other departments have been able to fully realize its potential in every part of the enterprise space, due to its complexity and the devices, tool and software and creative mindset still to come.