Tech with a purpose: Enabling AR today

In the epoch of hi-tech, the FOMO tenet is all around. Sitting on the tech side of the table, I have witnessed many spin sophistry around the technological advancement and almost claim world hunger has been solved. Not only the large enterprises but also the smaller ones vacillate to figure which tech to adopt. And the reason is obvious. Technology improves efficiency in all aspects such as revenue, sustainability, customer experience and employee satisfaction.

In recent weeks, I had the opportunity to meet some perspicacious industrial leaders. They are experts in their respective domains but they clench technology to expunge inefficiency as though it's their everyday business. Their comment seemed a cliche, but was opening a different view - "Of course, there isn't any role that is limited and zilch technology. But we look at tech not just for tech but for a purpose".

As a tech enthusiast myself, and in a slight attempt to look sagacious :), I want to present the purpose of the tech that I lobby for. Adapting an eXtended Reality technology seems partly prosaic and partly funny when the purpose is missed. Like with any other tech, the spectrum of adoption is very wide; the one who has seen it all and is unimpressed and the other who is super excited but quite apprehensive. Oftentimes, this tech has the banality of being described as too futuristic or impractical. Historically, the POCs were made in less impactful areas and the sunk cost isn't minded only to prove that the tech isn't working for them. I want to register why this is different today and it is possible to adopt the tech today. Our tagline is #tell_a_xoro_story_today.

Let's take Augmented Reality [AR] for presenting product demos. Now it is obvious that the attention span is reducing. A 10 page brochure or a 2 minute video isn't enticing anymore. Those sellers and marketers who are in penance for a 2 minute attention from their prospects, say in an event, cannot afford to draw a product out from their bags while their competition is showing something very fancy. AR stories can be very engaging, can register your messages along the whole food chain, and is much efficient than conventional methods. Well, the reasons sound quite strong to transition; but here is what I found in terms of challenges to get to this side.

1. Change Management: Leaders cannot afford impetuous changes in the established ways of working. Hence they want a delta instead of a whole revamp
2. Time consumed: Oftentimes the design and the iterations are enormous that even almost after a few months, what was imagined is not what is delivered.
3. Stability and quality: The tech has a bad history of poor performance which is still lingering with several leaders.
4. Affordability and prevalence: The tech is assumed to be available only with headsets and hence not many of the end customers are going to use or consume these outcomes on a regular basis.

Well the answers are very simple. This is practically what we use at XORO Story Inc .

1. Start small: The AR tech is powerful enough and can be experienced almost instantly that being advised. So starting small will allow natural adoption.
2. Readymade Products: Where there are ready made products, there are ready made templates to conceive and deliver the outcome in a fraction of time and cost.
3. Right Talents: The tech has advanced significantly in the last 1 year, having the right partners with right talents can make adoption seamless.
4. Mobile AR: Web AR or mobile app AR are definitely able to solve more than 70% of the use cases for creating right immersion and engagement with the users. And more importantly this achieves the result with almost no friction.

The quintessence of this story is that AR / VR / XR tech is apt, the advantages are endless, choosing the right partners and teams can make the journey a pleasure with the right benefits.