Web Augmented Reality Deep Dive

A New Design Paradigm?

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/2020-design-vision-dan-marcolina

As digital design pioneers in Print, Interactive, Video, and Mobile since 1990, we here at Marcolina Design have been wondering, will 2020 bring a new design paradigm to life? We believe over the next three years, Spatial Computing or AR will radically change how people interact with brands and how we approach design.

Here is an excerpt from our recent in-depth ARticle...

Creating Magic Inside the Invisible Layer Between Customer & Brand.

Web-based AR will drive the next paradigm of computing. Much like the mobile phone has driven web viewing into our palms, AR wearables (glasses) will drive web integration onto our faces. Once web enabled content is tied to vision-tracking it is a natural extension for de-signers and brands to take full advantage of this magic layer of data by enhancing user  experience with AR. This is absolutely an inevitable outcome.

Is 2020 the Tipping Point for Augmented Reality?

The main question is, what is the tipping point. Many stars are aligning to suggest mass adoption will occur in 3 to 5 years. Here are some indicators to consider:  

1) A massive amount of money is being poured into the sector by big players. We hear many reports that confirm key companies like Magic Leap (most money ever raised by any start-up), Apple, Microsoft, Google and Oculus (Facebook) are all vying for the most convenient wearable solutions. And they are all developing new software platforms to drive content development.

2) 5G network speeds are rolling out across the globe, allowing super-fast AR cloud computing that will transform the space. This speed and reach will allow for fully immersive wireless streaming experiences. 

3) Consumer familiarity and passion for the format. Thanks to Pokémon go Snapchat and Facebook AR camera effects, many people are getting comfortable with this interaction type. Also, iPhone and Android AR-based apps are plenty-full (Ikea Place App), and this will ease the adoption. 

4) Asia mainly China, has been investing in VR/AR revolution for years. Government backed companies are eager not to become backseat drivers in this next emerging computing paradigm as they did with mobile phones. Many of the components and know-how on miniaturization and lens technology is happening in Asia.

5) But the primary component that will turn the tide will be the style and wear-ability of the HMD (head-mounted display or glasses). Many AR wearables have already been released. Including Magic Leap 1, HoloLens 2 from Microsoft, which is getting well-established for industry use, Focals 2.0, and Nreal light. Many others are in development, including secret projects from Apple, and of course, Facebook/Oculus, who have been dominating the VR space and has big plans to push into the AR space reasonably quickly. 

But most people are waiting on Apples offering since they are the prime mover of consumer computing paradigms. They have a lot of cash, and have been gobbling up augmented reality companies and technologies over the last 3 to 5 years. This, along with Apple’s growing empire of AR content built around their ARKit platform will be ready assets at the launch of their face wearables. Recent news from Apple explains their hardware will happen in 2 phases. Phase 1 will be a somewhat bulky VR/AR HMD happening within a year and then a lighter fashion-forward version in 2 to 3 years. 

6) Then, of course, the other essential building block is the development of soft-ware to help designers easily create these dimensional experiences. So after a couple of years exploring this magical software landscape, here are thoughts on our favorite tools from my 30 year digital design perspective: 

Read and interact with the entire immersive article in a special Augmented Reality issue of Philly Ad News. Best viewed on a large monitor with cell phone in hand!

Shown below is just one of the 10 interactive engagements presented in the article

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