Have you already noticed, that the augmented reality is gradually moving from the category of sci-fi movies, games and complex technologies to the category of daily use?
Now, the process will speed up thanks to Apple ARKit. This framework was presented together with the new iOS 11 and is designed to simplify and accelerate development of apps with the augmented reality.
Apple did not invent the augmented reality but made it accessible to developers. Professional developers of our team are already exploring new possibilities in developing AR apps with ARKit. And things that constituted difficult tasks earlier, are growing much easier and take much less time. Contact Umbrella right now to be convinced!
What May Businesses Achieve With These Apps?
The new type of apps is sure to attract a large number of customers:
- first, this is the effect of novelty that springs to action. It suffices to recall the stunning success of Pokemon Go: the game was released in early July 2016, and in early August 2016 the number of installations exceeded 100 million. There were other factors to influence the success but still…;
- secondly, ARKit apps can be employed in a wide variety of areas (from simple games to complicated surgical procedures) and adapted to a specific target audience (for example, age range: from little children willing to play to top professionals, who make our life more comfortable, safe, fine, etc);
- thirdly, such apps are really convenient and can greatly facilitate the solution of any standard tasks (and not only standard ones).
Have You Already Started Considering The Idea Of Creating An ARKit App For Your Business?
We offer you 10 examples of possible ARKit application types built for business. We are sure that, at least, one of the ideas will attract your attention.
1. Games
Let’s start with the most traditional area of application.
The game industry was originally in the thick of the events. Who else but zombies, dragons and fantasy conquerors may serve as the best material to experiment with virtual objects. And game developers have been applying various components of the augmented reality technology (control, graphics, sound, geolocation) for a long time and successfully.
Prospects: Some experience in development has been already achieved, but now making an augmented reality app using ARKit will become easier, and the games will get more diverse, large-scale and comprehensive. Players do not need a helmet, glasses and any other equipment, only a smartphone in their hands. That is, games will become more “mobile”, motivating the user to move.
For what purpose do you need games in business? Apart from the game industry as such, games can be used to train staff, promote a brand, simulate an emergency at work, etc.
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
Please, keep in mind: life is much more wide-ranging than the screen of your smartphone.
2. Trying On Furniture
Another idea, which is already implemented: IKEA offers to its customers the opportunity to choose furniture from the catalog and “try-on” into their real rooms to see how it looks. Convenient. Practical. Easy.
Prospects: Similar apps can be used by suppliers of various home and office goods and products.
Do you want to see how a new water cooler will look in your office? Or maybe you are fond of rearranging the furniture in your house and need to know, which particular variant will be more convenient? No doubt, we will have a chance to use such apps in the near future.
We have already tried and feel pleased with results.
3. Tools
This is about apps that offer a set of tools and present a collection of different measuring aids. The function of such apps is based on defining vertical and horizontal planes of the room. Simply put, your phone has a ruler that measures length, width and height of the walls, and human height or geometrical parameters of any other object.
However, a virtual object (for example, the ruler for measurements to be performed) in the augmented reality will always pass in front of the surface of real objects. This means you cannot make it pass BEHIND the real objects. This possibility is not provided for. Not yet.
Here is the playful dragon from AR Dragon to illustrate, what is meant: if you try to take the dragon in hand, it will always stay in the foreground, and the hand will disappear behind it.
Where can such an app come in handy?
For example,
- at home: to calculate the amount of materials required for repair, or determine which height of a staircase you need;
- at warehouse: to plan how to arrange goods rationally;
- at work: to check the length of cable routes, pipelines in hard-to-reach places, etc.
Prospects: New iPhone devices are equipped with improved sensors. This means that the accuracy of measurements increases. And the new iOS 11 enables more complex calculations. Thus, such apps have the chance to evolve into complex, multi-stage measurements with subsequent calculation.
4. Restaurant Menu
Aesthetic issues have always been and remain a significant part of a restaurant business. Some attempts have already been made to build projections of dishes to attract more visitors.
For example, the idea was considered to project pizza on the table in a cafe, so that visitors could add their own ingredients to the projected dish.
The idea was exciting but hard to implement then. At the very least, it required a projector over each table. Now creating such an app is quite possible.
Prospects: As a rule, we are very sensitive about what we eat. Undoubtedly, anyone h of us would appreciate an app, designed to tell us about a dish everything we need to know. Or help to concoct your own recipes (pizza, salads, decorations for cakes, etc.), reproduce and adjust a table setting for festive celebrations, etc
5. Navigation
Arrows, pointers, visual guides – these are things we truly miss in navigation devices. Or missed, to be more precise. With a navigator that traces a route, drawing it directly on the terrain, you are unlikely to get lost or misplaced.
Prospects: The way to drive/ to go, the place to stay or to leave your vehicle – all this can be visualized. And it’s not just about the pointers on the asphalt.
For example, in their presentation, Apple showed navigation over a starry sky: you look at the sky through your smartphone and see the constellations and their names.
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
The way, which is difficult to lose.
6. Education Materials
We complain about our children spending more and more time in a virtual world. AR apps can help to use this habit for good.
Why not study animals, sights, natural phenomena, adding them to the reality? Visual aids have always played a key role in the learning process. They become more accessible and effective in the form provided for by modern devices.
Prospects: The age range for such educational purposes is not limited to children. Adult people continue to study, learn and explore for their entire conscious experience. AR apps may help to create voluminous chemical formulas or allow novice surgeons to conduct operations, and experienced physicians to develop new methods of treatment.
7. Sales
The market is the widest activity field. Relations at the marketing level can be very effectively supplemented by virtual objects.
For example, you are going to buy a car and, looking through the camera, you see its cost and basic characteristics.
Prospects: In such apps, you can create not just price tags but detailed descriptions of products, as if you opened the seller’s website. The difference is that you do not have to look for anything, things will be right before your eyes.
8. Visual Effects
Here you can argue: our movie industry already has more than enough facilities available, to create visual and sound effects, hasn’t it?
You are right, the movie-makers dispose of the whole arsenal of tools and means to surprise us, frighten, bring to tears or make us forget about everything, flying to fantasy worlds.
But we are talking now about novice directors, bloggers, and school theatres. For them, it is too expensive to create special effects and 3D graphics in conventional ways. The scale of projects in such cases is incomparable with the costs.
Prospects: Talented young directors will be able to convey their ideas to the viewers; young start-ups will have an affordable opportunity to produce test spot advertising, etc.
9. Sport
We will spare talking about virtual training equipment, treadmills or game rivals.
Let’s look at sports through the eyes of a fan. The augmented reality can be integrated into sports apps.
For example, you watch a football match and see the names above the players. Additionally, you can find out the count, statistics for each player and other information.
Prospects: Some examples of similar apps do exist, although they are not easy to implement. But fans and spectators, seeking for any information about their idols, especially in real time mode, will certainly appreciate such apps. Calculating the speed of the ball, path of motion, deviation from the target – these are thing that are possible to be calculated and displayed.
10. Construction
Since we are talking about virtual objects, the first things that occur, are virtual mockups or layouts, or their parts, which can supplement the existing ones. But for this stage of the technology progress, it is already too easy. Apple ARKit apps advantages are much greater.
Prospects: On-site measurements, calculating any estimates based on measurement results, creating virtual mockups, option to offer a customer a tour of a virtual facility, overlaying design levels on the site under construction, monitoring closed cable routes and pipelines, and much more.
Building your own castles but not of sand.
We have only briefly outlined several possibilities how to make an ARKit app useful. Perhaps, reading this article, you have arrived at the idea, that you need such an app right now, when the technology starts to conquer new areas and territories.
To convince you once again we offer our traditional bonus: Umbrella always gives the clients more than promised. Here is another example of an augmented reality app in practice:
11. Identification
In keeping with the best traditions of futuristic fantasies: you point your phone at persons and read information about them, which is available in the system. Does it seem unthinkable? Exactly as everything described above, it all seemed unreal several decades ago.
Prospects: Of course, such an idea requires serious refinement and includes certain challenges for developers.
Just imagine: to what extent this will be easier to handle the tasks aimed to optimize and manage the production, if there is an app that will, for example, display the tasks and their implementation progress by employees at a large enterprise.
Or imagine how many lives can be saved by an app, which stores basic data about people (blood group, allergic reactions, and so on) to be used by emergency doctors and medical technicians under the circumstances, where each second counts.
Anyway, this is the future, and the technology has a long way to cover. As for now, we are waiting for the AR app glasses to be developed by Apple and some third-party manufacturer. With them in hands, we will no longer need to hold a smartphone, and the apps will play out in fresh colors and offer new possibilities.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
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