What are the most common AR experiences and how can you use them?

Marker-based AR is a basic AR experience! It uses real things like QR codes, barcodes, or pictures in books to make your phone or tablet show cool stuff. For example, scanning a QR code on a product can give you info and discounts. Or, in a magazine, when you scan a picture, a video or a game comes to life. This tech is easy to use, but it needs a good internet connection and a clear view of the code or picture. It's like a bridge between our physical world and the digital one, making things more exciting and informative for all of us!

Marker-based AR leverages QR codes or images to seamlessly integrate digital content, enhancing user experiences, but demands a stable internet connection.

Marker-based AR is a common AR experience where physical objects like QR codes, barcodes, or printed images trigger digital content on your device. It's widely used for interactive marketing and education. For instance, scan a QR code on a product to access detailed information, reviews, or special offers. In education, scanning an image in a textbook can bring up related videos or interactive 3D models, enhancing learning. This technology is straightforward to implement and user-friendly, though it requires a stable internet connection and a clear view of the marker. Marker-based AR effectively bridges physical and digital worlds, offering an engaging, informative experience for users.

Marker-based AR is a simple yet powerful technique for creating immersive experiences. It can augment products, marketing campaigns, or even storybooks with digital content with minimal changes. One of its advanced applications is indoor AR navigation with QR codes or images acting as the anchor in the real world. This reduces the need for complex physical systems and can be very beneficial and cost-effective for large venues like airports, malls, or events where GPS may not work.

Through the use of device cameras, marker-based augmented reality (AR) superimposes digital content—such as photos or QR codes—onto real-world objects to improve user experiences. It provides smooth interactions for everything from getting product details to enjoying print media-related content. Marker-based augmented reality is accessible and easy to use. This restriction could make encounters less enjoyable in places with bad internet or blocked markers, highlighting how crucial technology requirements are for the best possible interaction.

Markerless AR doesn't need a specific thing like a QR code to show digital stuff on your device. Instead, it uses your phone's GPS and other sensors to know where you are and how you're moving. For instance, it helps in navigation apps by showing directions on your screen as you walk. Also, in fitness apps, it can track your steps and give virtual rewards. Markerless AR is more flexible than the one with markers, but it might use more battery and data, and it might not be as accurate. It's like a trade-off between cool features and how much your phone needs to work for them.

Markerless AR is a versatile AR experience that leverages your device's sensors like GPS, accelerometer, or gyroscope to provide context-based content. Use it in navigation apps to overlay directions and landmarks on your real-world view, enhancing orientation and travel experience. Fitness apps utilize it to track movements, steps, and calories, offering virtual rewards and interactive motivation. Unlike marker-based AR, markerless AR adapts to a variety of environments without needing a specific trigger object. However, it may consume more battery and data, and its accuracy depends on sensor quality. Markerless AR's dynamic nature makes it suitable for a wide range of practical, everyday applications.

Markerless AR employs device sensors like GPS, accelerometer, and gyroscope, offering versatile experiences without specific triggers. However, it demands more resources.

Markerless AR is the future of Augmenter reality and mixed reality marketing. It cam be accessed from social media platforms like meta Spark, Snapchat and adobe Aero. These platforms make it easy to create unique experience woth this technology that create really cool reactions to the audience

Projection-based AR is like making magical pictures on a table or in the air. It uses a special light to create things that seem real, like a keyboard on your desk or a person appearing like a hologram. You can even use a laser pointer to draw or select things in this magical light show. It feels very natural, almost like it's really there! But, this magic show can be tricky – sunlight or shadows might spoil it, and the equipment can be costly. So, while it's super cool, you need the right conditions and some fancy gadgets to make the magic happen.

Projection-based AR creates immersive experiences by projecting light onto surfaces, creating illusions of depth and interactivity. Use it to project a virtual keyboard on your desk, enhancing your workspace without physical hardware. It's also used in presentations, where holograms can bring concepts to life. Interactive aspects, like using a laser pointer for drawing or selection, make it engaging for educational or creative purposes. This AR type offers a more realistic feel, though it can be influenced by environmental light and shadows and often requires advanced hardware. Projection-based AR is ideal for creating tangible, interactive experiences in both professional and educational settings.

Projection-based AR, also known as Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) or Projection Mapping, is a type of augmented reality that uses projectors to overlay digital content onto physical objects or surfaces in the real world. The most common projection surfaces are cylindrical (e.g., Mercator), conic (e.g., Albers), and planar (e.g., stereographic). Many mathematical projections, however, do not neatly fit into any of these three projection methods.

Superimposition-based AR enhances reality by overlaying digital enhancements onto physical objects. A common example is face filter apps, where digital effects modify your appearance in photos or videos, adding fun and creativity to social media interactions. In practical applications, use a furniture app to virtually place different furniture pieces in your room, aiding in interior design decisions. This form of AR, while engaging, requires sophisticated image recognition and can raise concerns about privacy and ethics. It’s particularly useful for trying out aesthetic changes virtually before making real-world alterations, exemplified by apps that let you preview hairstyles or makeup looks, blending fun with utility.

This form of AR AR takes the mundane and familiar and reinvents it with a digital twist. A classic example is the use of face filter apps that not only alter facial features but can add accessories or even show us how we look aged. Similarly, interior design apps allow users to envision how furniture would appear in their actual living spaces before making a purchase, revolutionizing the shopping experience. More rigorous academic research is needed in the field to understand why face filters trigger hedonic experiences or lead to utilitarian outcomes.

Superimposition-based AR is like a magic filter for your pictures, changing how things look. Imagine using an app that adds funny accessories to your selfies or shows how furniture would fit in your room. It's trendy and enjoyable! But, making this magic happen needs smart technology, and sometimes, it can make people worry about privacy. It's like a cool trick that needs to be careful not to make people uncomfortable. So, while it's fun to play with, there's a need to be thoughtful about how it uses and changes what we see.

Superimposition-based-AR bring for e-commerce a big opportunity to bring objects to the real world environment and gives the potential clients the chance to interact with the products before continuing with their customer journey

Outlining AR is a practical AR experience, particularly beneficial for spatial recognition tasks. It uses digital lines or shapes to define edges and boundaries of objects or spaces. For instance, a parking app employing outlining AR can show available parking spots and assist in maneuvering your car into them. Similarly, a measuring app can calculate dimensions and area of objects, simplifying tasks like home improvement or interior design. While highly useful, its accuracy relies on the camera quality and environmental factors. This technology proves especially helpful in scenarios requiring precise spatial awareness or measurements, offering a convenient, real-time visual guide.

Common multi-user AR experiences include collaborative design, multiplayer games, interactive education, and shared social interactions. Collaborative design enables real-time interaction with 3D models, benefitting architectural design and product development. Multiplayer games create engaging shared gaming experiences, enhancing entertainment and user interaction. Interactive education facilitates group learning experiences in an immersive manner. Shared social interactions use AR to enable real-time communication and content sharing, benefiting virtual events and social connectivity. AR can be used to streamline design processes, enhance customer engagement, improve learning environments, and foster social interaction in virtual spaces.

Multi-user AR can be helpful when conducted in a remote-local collaborative setting. This allows multiple users who are geographically separated to have naturalistic interactions with each other and their environment. A local user can be present in their remote counterpart’s environment via their photorealistic avatar and interact with it in a way that would be akin to physically being present from the perspective of the remote user, and vice versa. This enables users to have in-person-like interactions with others from the comfort of their homes, reducing the need to physically travel over larger distances.

Multi-user AR is a common experience that fosters social interaction and collaboration in augmented spaces. For instance, gaming apps using multi-user AR allow you to engage with others in virtual environments, either cooperatively or competitively, adding a communal dimension to gaming. Social apps leverage this technology to enable virtual meetings, shared experiences, or collaborative projects with friends or colleagues, irrespective of physical location. While highly engaging, ensuring data synchronization and security is a key challenge in multi-user AR. This technology is particularly beneficial in team-based projects and educational settings, where it promotes interactive learning and teamwork in a shared, augmented reality space.

Multi-user AR is akin to a digital gathering, allowing many people to join in and play or chat collectively. Picture using a game where you and your friends engage from different locations. It's incredibly enjoyable and social! However, ensuring everyone sees the same content and maintaining security can be complex. It's akin to ensuring all your friends at the gathering have a great time without any hitches. So, while sharing the experience is thrilling, there's a challenge in ensuring smooth functionality and safeguarding everyone's data.

Multi user AR is not as used as superimposition-based-AR since the hardware and software needed for this technology is more complex than a simple smartphone. The new devices such as Apple Vision Pro could change this behaviour

AR is not just about the tech you choose, but also about when, where and how to use it. It is about the story and the purpose to complement the experience and make it richer rather than standing out and overwhelming the user. For instance, you can use marker-based AR to add interactive elements to a museum exhibit, or spatial mapping to transform your surroundings, making the world your playground.

AR experiences can be classified by effect type/technology, or use cases. In terms of effect type, they include- 1) Selfie/Front Camera Effects 2) Hand & Body Tracking Effects 3) Image Tracking or marker-based AR Effects 4) World Tracking AR Effects 5) Multiplayer Effects for interactive experiences 6) AR Ads for immersive advertising 7) AR Games 8) Location-Based AR Use cases comprise 1) Face Effects for beautification or fun experiences, 2) Product Visualization for seeing items in real settings 3) Gamified AR Effects 4) Virtual Try-ons for fashion or accessories 5) Virtual Portals for immersive entry into new worlds 6) AR Packaging for enhanced product info 7) AR Merchandise/Business Cards for interactive personal or business branding.

AR experiences should be always user-first-experiences, this means the user should be in the focus, the experience has to be native and interactive and not too complicated otherwise this could lead to lost impressions/clicks

All of these AR experiences are employed routinely for purposes that are practical (such as the crude ‘guides’ found on many automotive backup cameras, or the “over head view” on some guidance systems) or for entertainment, like the projection mapping used in Theme Parks and other public celebrations. The recent development of “digital twins” has brought AR into collaborative design spaces in a very deep and interactive way, allowing designers to test how a space might work before committing fully to the design. Geospatial AR fine art projects (and video games) have become quite popular. Essentially, AR/XR is everywhere, whether or not its consumers name it as such.