Ranna Digital Works

Augmented Reality Applications

The value of AR is the way it can interpret, manipulate, and enhance the real world view in real time. For example, augmented reality applications where AR can be used and actively used are:

Retail: Perhaps the most important AR application for most users will be "try before you buy", especially in retail applications. As more people shop from home and place less emphasis on public retail spaces, AR will allow consumers to see how they will look in their own home before purchasing products. This can take the guesswork out of the purchasing process. There are already a number of apps that allow you to place furniture and other products like Ikea into your own real world environments.

Mapping and navigation: Business directory app Yelp was one of the early adopters of AR with the now deprecated Monocle feature. Monocle overlays local business information while displaying the immediate surroundings on your phone screen. Additional information showed basic information such as where nearby restaurants are located and how far they are. This is a variant of the head-up display (HUD) - for example, Mercedes-Benz offers a car that puts navigation information on the windshield and helps you drive without looking away from the road.

Education: AR enters the curriculum to enhance traditional learning methods. For example, textbooks can be marked with codes that can display additional content or 3D visualizations when scanned with a smartphone.

Maintenance and industry: AR has great potential in the coming years to significantly reduce reliance on physical technical manuals and at the same time increase productivity by putting relevant information into view while performing maintenance or other tasks for a worker. Sufficiently advanced augmented reality applications not only understand the context to show the right information, but also help to define components and workflows using highlights and overlays. BMW, for example, does exactly that with a pilot program that uses AR on the assembly line.

Entertainment and social media: AR has a lot of potential for entertainment as well. Magic Leap, for example, is an AR development company that has spent more than $ 2.6 billion developing AR glasses and an AR technology platform, but continues to attract additional investments without owning a commercial product. On a more accessible platform - smartphones - TikTok recently introduced branded AR effects that users can add to their videos. Undoubtedly, this is just the beginning of the race to create ever more engaging AR experiences that blur the lines between real and virtual.