Augmented reality(AR) is a technology that merges the digital and physical worlds together to create a new virtual environment. It does so by superimposing digital objects onto the real world. You can experience it with the help of smartphones, tablets, and specialized glasses.
AR has the potential to transform various industries. In this blog post, we’ll see how augmented reality is changing the manufacturing industry, education, entertainment, healthcare, and retail. So let’s get started!
Augmented Reality in Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry has always been quick in adopting new technologies and AR is no exception. AR helps this sector improve operational efficiency, reduce errors, and save time. When combined with IoT, AR becomes a game changer. It provides a visual interface for analyzing real-time data that leads to quicker problem-solving, and increased productivity. Let’s further explore the benefits of AR in manufacturing.
Benefits of AR in the Manufacturing Industry
One of the significant benefits of AR in manufacturing is that it provides real-time information and feedback. It can be incredibly helpful for maintenance and correcting errors. AR is also a big help in quality control. By overlaying digital images onto the objects, manufacturers can easily detect defects and prevent faulty products from reaching customers.
Boeing, a leading aerospace company, uses AR in their wiring process. They overlay virtual templates onto the assembly parts during the production process. It helps their technicians be more efficient which has led to a decrease in their production time by 25% and error rates to nearly zero.
Augmented Reality in Education
Augmented reality is also enhancing the quality of education by introducing new and immersive learning strategies and methods. These innovative methods hook students’ attention and facilitate a better understanding of the concepts. Let’s explore further.
Benefits of AR in Education
The benefits of AR in education are numerous. It can bring abstract concepts to life, improve student engagement, and accelerate learning. 3D visualization of objects that AR provides helps students actively interact with the products and efficiently understand the concepts.
Augmented reality also bridges the gap between textbook theory and practical implications by providing virtual hands-on experiences to the students. By reading theory and performing virtual practicals, students gain a level of understanding that textbooks alone can’t provide. A great example of an AR-based educational app is “Complete Anatomy” developed by 3D4Medical, a subsidiary of Elsevier. It empowers students to explore the details of human anatomy using a totally virtual body.
We can look forward to seeing more innovative applications and benefits across different industries suggesting that AR is the technology of the future.
Augmented Reality in Entertainment
Entertainment is another sector in which AR is making strides. AR provides entertainment content in a highly immersive and engaging way. This technology is being employed in video games, interactive cinemas, and even theme parks allowing us to interact and actively participate in our virtual environment.
Advantages of AR for the Entertainment Industry
Thanks to AR, content creators can now create highly immersive and addictive entertainment content to engage their audience. It also provides new income streams for the industry through in-app purchases in AR games and premium AR movies or theme parks. AR also helps create interactive marketing campaigns for music and events etc.
A fantastic example of the use of AR in entertainment is the Pokemon Go game developed by Niantic. This game overlays the virtual game environment onto real-world surroundings. Players can collect items and engage in interactive battleships. This exceptional experience has led to this game being a massive success with over a billion dollar downloads worldwide.
Moreover, this game has also introduced another sub-genre in the gaming industry called location-based AR games and many industries have adopted it since then.
Augmented Reality in Healthcare
Healthcare is another industry in which AR finds numerous implications. Medical practitioners use it to understand complex medical conditions and improve their treatment approach. Medical students also benefit from it for immersive learning that leads to better understanding and recall. Let’s see these benefits in detail.
Benefits of AR in Healthcare
Augmented reality allows medical professionals to improve their skills virtual environment without needing direct patient involvement. This can help them practice and hone their skills without causing any harm to anyone. Take surgery for example. AR allows surgeons to visualize the structures during surgery that might have been challenging to view otherwise.
Medivis is a medical technology company that has developed a platform called Surgical AR. It allows surgeons to visualize a patient’s anatomy in three dimensions during surgical procedures. Microsoft’s HoloLexns 2 does pretty much the same job. These technologies make surgery less invasive and safer.
Moreover, doctors can also use AR to improve patient communication and engagement. They can model a patient’s condition or illustrate a surgical procedure to patients, ensuring transparency and efficiency in patient-doctor dialogues.
Augmented Reality in Retail
Augmented reality is revolutionizing retail by offering an immersive, interactive, and personalized shopping experience. AR-powered virtual fitting rooms and augmented product catalogs provide you with a near-tangible shopping experience.
Benefits of AR in Retail
AR allows customers to virtually interact with products prior to the purchase. This can reduce the uncertainty that comes with online shopping leading to greater customer satisfaction, lower product rates, and more five-star reviews.
AR also helps retailers better engage with their customers. AR-oriented marketing campaigns attract more attention and create a memorable shopping experience that sets brands apart from the rest of the market and improves sales and customer loyalty
An impressive use of AR in retail is IKEA’s Place app. This app allows customers to visualize how a particular furniture piece would look in their home before purchasing. It overlays digital images of furniture onto the home environment helping consumers make more informed decisions.
Conclusion
Augmented reality is making strides across industries. It has significantly transformed manufacturing, education, entertainment, healthcare, and retail industries among others. This technology holds transformative potential and we can look forward to seeing more innovative applications and benefits across different industries suggesting that AR is the technology of the future.