Recently, Augmented Reality (AR) has become a powerful engagement tool.

The augur has envisioned long back that Augmented Reality (AR) – and, conclusively, Virtual Reality (VR) – will be a side of our everyday to-do list in the not-so-distant future. And, it seems that the future is now. In the past few years, the arrival of several apps has leveraged this technology. 

Presently, Mobile apps are using virtual and augmented reality technology to develop apps with the power to transform how you interact with devices, technology and the epoch as a whole. 

To put it simply, Augmented Reality integrates Reality with Virtual elements. 

Even the iconic Pokemon Go app is a fantastic example of Augmented Reality in Mobile App development. If you are not aware of the app, let me give you a glimpse of it for a clear understanding. 

Pokemon Go includes elements you encounter in the real world, amalgamated with digital components, here being those Pokemon characters who pop up in numerous locations as the player navigates their world. 

Virtual Reality takes a giant leap; instead of fusing Reality with virtual elements, VR crafts an entirely virtual environment. But, in a VR world, your imagination is the only limit. 

While most think of gaming when they think of AR and VR technology, games account for just one potential use. 

So, you must be wondering how a trusted app development company have put this technology to use.  

Is AUGMENTED REALITY and VIRTUAL REALITY Offering An Edge Over The Competition?

Undoubtedly, companies can have the edge over their competition or efficiently operate in entirely new niches by offering AR-driven services and products to their clientele base. 

The global spending on AR and VR continues to grow. AR is forecasted to eclipse $20 billion in 2021 for the client sector, with mobile AR share on smartphones and tabs to dominate. Experts predicted that the commercial industry would opt for head-mounted devices like Microsoft HoloLens or Google Glass in retail, professional services industries, transportation, and manufacturing. 

The tech giants like Apple, Google, Microsoft recognizes AR as a promising technology that is already yielding significant profits. These mammoth technology companies are already working on developing hardware and platforms that allow mobile app developers in Dubai and across to create new AR apps.

Though time flies, the scope and scale of AR wham in several business domains are only going to grow. A trusted firm has an in-house development team ready to deliver an AR and VR app, so choosing to outsource your app to an experienced AR/VR development partner can help. 

If you are planning to invest in Augmented Reality for your business, continue reading to learn about the latest apps and trends. 

AR Mobile App Engages Customers 

Virtually, for any business, mobile AR offers an exclusive opportunity to enter the digital market at an early stage and start garnering the benefits of AR. 

As already known, mobile devices are a globally available distribution platform you can put to use for bringing your services and products to behemoth new users. Also, AR checks on all the prerequisites needed to get the power of wonder and surprise directly at your customer’s fingertips, all wrapped in a visually unique and customized manner. 

For instance, AR is already offering its usefulness for customer interactions and loyalty program gamification. 

Popular games like Pokemon Go and the trending photo-sharing platform Snapchat have already found resounding success in bringing the innovation of AR to millennials. Undeniably Snapchat has been an absolute epitome in bringing AR to the mainstream through its filters, which are implied to image and video messages sent and received by 180+ million daily active users globally. 

Even the filters add AR-powered animations to Snapchat user’s photos. 

As already discussed above, talking about Pokemon Go is a mobile app that combines gaming with the real world by tracking player’s locations and using AR to add pokemon characters to catch. 

Unsurprisingly, Pokemon GO has earned $104 million in revenue along with 147 million active users in May 2018 alone. The industry giants like IKEA also used Augmented Reality to offer their customers a complete visualization of what their furniture would look like when it’s placed at a particular niche in their home.  

The app IKEA Place is a visualization app for Android and iOS which offers customers the potential to virtually place the IKEA products in their home before making a purchase.

So, in a nutshell, integrating AR technology requires special attention to testing, which can help businesses create an excellent final product that keeps their audience engaged. 

Retailers, games and several other businesses are discovering AR’s power to keep their users engaged. 

Face-Rooted AR Apps Boosts Fitness Apps

Apple’s ARKit offers mobile apps with the potential of scanning a face and keeping track of its features changing over time. 

This ARKit proves beneficial, especially when integrated into fitness apps. When a person loses weight, their facial features get sharper, and an AR-based app can easily track their progress towards weight-loss goals.  

Even the global facial recognition market size, which was valued at USD 3.86 billion in 2020, is predicted to emerge at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4% from 2021 to 2028. 

So, in a nutshell, facial recognition technology is very versatile with its usage and thus is rapidly being used by numerous end-users. 

AR Mobile Apps Power Indoor Navigation

Almost everyone is aware of and uses map service by Google and Apple, but what’s more striking and startling is indoor navigation. 

Without a shadow of a doubt, it will be of great help to navigate across hotels, petrol stations, and malls which are a little daunting to find on regular apps. Therefore, sooner, the consumer will get to see the true potential of this emerging technology. 

Performance-related trends of AR navigation in comparison to conventional navigation is shown below:

As seen in the above image, convenient navigation is imperative despite the fact you are navigating an outside destination or inside a mall. But, when it’s about indoor navigation, the problem needs a different solution – and AR comes to the rescue. 

In a nutshell, convenient indoor navigation helps users quickly find their way in malls, big offices, airports, hospitals. Besides, it optimizes passenger flows. 

For instance, the official Gatwick app offers AR navigation around the Gatwick Airport through their smartphones. Moreover, the app also displays available flights in real-time and avenues to the gates and terminals related to a selected flight. 

AR-rooted navigation allows mall visitors to find the easiest way to reach a shop. It is eventually increasing the productivity of the office and staff. Besides, indoor navigation can also be easily integrated with security solutions that limit access to specific areas. 

So, to create an indoor navigation system, the experts for Augmented Reality in Dubai combine AR with machine vision. In this app, a mobile app evaluates a user’s location inside the building by scanning specific marks placed throughout the building.

These scanned marks become the initial starting points from which the mobile app leads the user to the required destination through drawn routes. 

Even you can build an indoor navigation app for Android and iOS with the following: 

• iOS uses ARKit for indoor navigation
• Android devices use ARCore to scan the information plate using Augmented images.

AR Allows Object Recognition

Augmented Reality offers an easy and convenient approach to users for getting acquainted with the latest digital devices. You can use AR to recognize numerous objects and gain access to additional information through a virtual manual on your mobile.

This feature of AR can be used in machinery, intelligent home appliances, or even in-car dashboards. 

For instance, a virtual assistant known as Ask Mercedes amalgamates an AI chatbot with an augmented reality function. 

The drivers who use Ask Mercedes can ask questions about any selected vehicle on their mobile screen or use the assistant’s voice recognition tool to ask questions. The app Ask Mercedes uses the smartphone’s camera to scan the element of the vehicle, identify it, and explain its functionality. 

To sum things up, Object-based recognition can make maintenance or educational apps more user-friendly.

AR Technology : A Boon To Travellers and Travelling Apps

If you are dwelling from a business that caters to travelling, you can easily wow your customers with AR-enhanced discovery. 

All thanks to AR, travellers will no longer have the feel of gushing their time during rides and flights. With AR-powered discovery apps, they can simply use their mobiles to scan the places and sights they come across, immersing themselves in discovery and reading curious facts about anything that catches their attention. 

For example, Airbus presented its iflyA380 app, which allows passengers to place their smartphones towards the window and see information about cities, islands, and other landmarks as they fly over them.   

AR is also used in the hospitality industry by adding new interactive features to hotel rooms to amplify visitors’ local explorations. 

For example, the London’s Hub hotel mobile app transforms the big London map on the wall of every smart room into an alluring city guide. 

Another example of bracing AR technology is the ViewRanger – Ride, Hike or Walk. It’s an outdoor discovery app, which identifies lakes, mountains, and other landscape points with a smartphone camera pointed at the particular place and details on the trail guide map for easy exploration and navigation. 

Simply put, AR-powered apps can teach users fascinating and entertaining facts about the environment around them. 

AR Mobile Apps Offer Remote Assistance

Did You Know!

You can use shared AR for remote assistance and collaboration. 

Using AR technology, you can instantly place a query to maintenance technicians who can remotely inspect the equipment in real time, finding the issues by using virtual marks in a shared AR space. 

So, if you are interested in creating an AR-powered remote assistance app, using WebRTC in conjunction with ARKit for iOS and ARCore for Android can be a good choice. The WebRTC technology allows users to stream audio and video and put data channels to use for AR data transmission. 

But, it’s recommended to go for an experienced mobile app development company with expertise in AR, VR, AI and emerging technology. Else, you may be the one to take this idea and enter the niche with the same product. 

Finally, Merging Mobile App With AR Technology

Passionate app developers are looking for ways to utilize virtual and Augmented Reality in mobile apps for several industries. Some of which are: 

Real Estate Listing App

 AR technology is leveraged significantly in real-estate home touring apps like Smart2VR and Realvision, as the property’s interior and exterior is digitally edited in practice called “virtual staging”.  

The process of staging usually includes decorative elements, furniture and plantings. This allows the prospective buyers to easily see what’s possible for a property that may be daunting to sell because of outdated decor or lack of furnishings. 

Map and Touring App

Mobile apps like Wikitude allow you to walk through a live version of Google Maps by simply holding up your phone and using the camera or video input. This app consists of overlays from Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor and many other local sites integrated into the user interface. 

The concept of a pin can be used for self-guided tours and real estate showings, where the individual would hold up their phone and using the camera input and GPS data, the app will show virtual pins and signposts. 

Educational Apps

Whether you believe it or not, the learning potential with AR technology is incredible!

Although it’s an anatomy app like the Anatomy 4D Augmented Reality App or an astronomy app like Star Walk, the educational niche is among the most rapidly developing areas.  

Home-Decor Apps

Home decor apps use augmented reality to amalgam digital elements with real-life elements in a video, image, or live-streaming video. For example, you might take a video of the room and swap out all the furnishings with new and improved digital versions. 

Then, you can virtually navigate through the room from different angles.

The Final Words…

If we go by the views of AR industry giants, the technology is expected to reach $25 billion in the next 4-5 years. 
As gaming always captures the lion’s share, several other sectors like travel, engineering, real estate are all set to join the race. So, with changing time, if you are all set to thrive in the competition, it’s high time for you to partner with the best mobile app development team in Dubai, UAE, that meets your market demands and needs.