Top industries to benefit from AR in Mobile Apps

Considering the fact that the global AR market will be up to $ 67 billion by 2022, the technology will most likely be predominant in the App Store and Google Play through 2018. We all are curious enough how does Augmented Reality work on mobile devices and what makes it a “boom” stream now? Will try to shed some light on this article.

First of all, I’d like to mention top industries that benefit from using the AR apps:

Retail

Years before Niantic’s viral game IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, launched a sleek mobile/tablet app that employed the Augmented Reality technology to virtually furnish users’ apartments with 3D furniture from the company’s catalog.

In a world where customers return 30% of products purchased online investing in AR mobile app development could be a potential game-changer for retail companies

Tourism

In the early 2010s, Tokyo’s Sunshine Aquarium registered a significant drop in attendance. The facility’s board figured out potential visitors couldn’t find their way to the aquarium due to multiple distractions (including bars, cinemas, and shopping malls) that had been built in the area in recent years. In order to reignite public’s interest, they launched Penguin Navi – an AR application that uses GPS data to place cute penguins on top of a camera feed. Once you happen to be in Tokyo, the virtual penguins will guide you all the way to the facility. The innovative solution helped Sunshine Aquarium increase attendance by 152%.

The use of mobile Augmented Reality solutions helps tech-savvy companies improve customer engagement and brand visibility.

Gaming

Although Pokémon GO received mixed reviews from tech experts and switched from “free-to-play” to “pay-to-win” months after its launch, it became the biggest mobile game in US history (21 million daily users) and generated $ 950 (!) million in revenues. However, it wasn’t the first AR app built by Niantic. Back in 2012, the company released Ingress – a multiplayer AR game with a sophisticated storyline involving underworld monsters, artifacts, and energy portals. The game (which has multiple fan communities around the globe) has generated over 11 million downloads. Unlike endless runners and meaningless shooters, AR games encourage players to spend more time outside and interact with each other – and that’s exactly what makes gaming fun;

3 reasons why Augmented Reality has taken off:

Novelty factor

Although skeptics insist it’s the power of nostalgia and not the gameplay itself that made users get off the coach and walk miles in search of pocket monsters, you can’t deny the fact that Augmented Reality is the biggest thing in mobile development since Instagram and messengers.

Technology advancements

Unlike Virtual Reality apps that require dedicated headsets, AR has no entry. iOS and Android App development companies are getting more familiar with neural networks and deep learning. Sensors are getting cheaper, too. Provided you address a reliable vendor, you’ve got every chance to build a high-performance AR app at a reasonable price.

Ultimate benefits

Although it costs up to $ 750 thousand to run a sponsored Snapchat campaign for a single day, the company has already created over 50 promo lenses. Forward-thinking brands like Taco Bell, Marvel, and Sony Pictures explore new customer engagement strategies including beacon-triggered notifications and AR apps and…win big. Remember Sunshine Aquarium?

The global mobile app development market is undergoing a rapid change. Stay tuned!