AUGMENTED REALITY: FROM YOUR WEB BROWSER TO YOUR HOME

SO…WHAT IS AR AGAIN?

Augmented Reality, in simplest terms, is overlaying digital content onto or into the real world – thus “augmenting” it by adding new information. When we talk about Augmented Reality (AR for short), most often we mean using a mobile device to place digital 3D models into a real-world space so you can visualize, walk around, and interact with them as if they were actually there in the real world.

IS THIS A FAD? WHERE IS THE TECH GOING?

Nope, it’s definitely not a fad. This technology has actually been around for many decades at much lower quality levels. It’s been slowly evolving and improving in the background, and over the last few years finally started becoming more accessible and, most importantly, useful beyond just some cool demos.

Many of the biggest companies in the world have been investing heavily into AR because they see it as the next evolution of interacting with computers and digital content. As expected companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook/Meta are pouring large amounts of money and development time into pushing this immersive technology forward by building incredible new enterprise and consumer-level devices and supporting software.

At the same time, at a much more accessible and everyday-level, social apps like Snapchat and Pinterest, and even commerce companies like Amazon, Ikea, and Target are also diving in, integrating AR into their products and services, and slowly changing customer expectations while familiarizing them with the technology.

I’M A SMALLER BUSINESS. WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Studies have shown online stores that offer AR features benefit from increased conversion rates and decreased returns. AR improves customer purchasing confidence, lowers buyer’s remorse, and to be honest it’s just plain cool.

All the big companies are starting to showcase their products in AR and are seeing the benefits, and now you can too! We’ve cooked up not one but two new tools to help you give your customers a more immersive and personal way to view and interact with your products in AR, all from a web browser – no app downloads needed!

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Our first new product keeps it simple (AR Viewer). It’s essentially a templated, embeddable product page that includes sections to display your product description and information along with a 3D object viewer and “View in AR” button. This allows your customers to interact with your 3D product in the browser. They can then click the “View in AR” button and place that 3D object in their real-world space, giving them a better view of how that product will look and fit before they buy it.

If your product isn’t customizable, or you just want to dip your toes into AR to test how it can help your business, this is a great way to get started. Each AR Viewer page comes with an embeddable QR code to easily share to mobile devices, can be custom designed to match branding, and seamlessly integrates into existing websites and product pages. As an added bonus, these AR Viewer pages integrate with our 360 Pano product, acting as embeddable hotspots so you can view AR models from directly within 360 Panos.

STEP IT UP A NOTCH

Our second new product is for those who like things a little more detailed (AR Configurator). This is for products that are customizable by your customers – they can interact with the product in 3D in their browser, selecting customizations to their heart’s content. When they settle on a configuration they like, they can click the “View in AR” button and like magic see their carefully customized product within their space in all its glory. The configurator page can also be custom branded and has the ability to integrate with existing inventory and pricing databases so the configurable options are always accurately in stock and priced.

The best part? These AR products both work on Android and iOS, so you can reach as many customers as possible.

I’M INTERESTED. HOW DO I GET STARTED?

You’ve decided you want to try AR for your business, but you have one last problem – how do you get 3D models of your products to display in AR? You’re in luck, we just so happen to have a world-class team of 3D artists who can build you 3D models of anything you need, optimized for AR viewing. Once the models are created, we manage the complexity and overhead of setting them up for AR and hosting them so you can keep your focus on your customers and your business.

AR can seem complicated, intimidating, and out of reach – It doesn’t have to be.