Holding an MBA in International Business from Bharathiar University, Ganesh, in his career spanning close to two decades, has handles key positions across companies such as CSS Corp, PayPal, Vednar InfoTech, and Sutherland, to name a few.

Augmented Reality or AR has been the new buzz word for quite a while now. So what’s it all about? Augmented Reality overlays digital information that you can interact with over your existing environment, enhancing the user’s experience. It creates an artificial environment that you can interact with in real-time. Remember Pokemon Go? That was just a trailer for what was possible with AR technology. But that’s just in reference to the gaming world. AR tech is now seeping into every other industry ranging from retail to education. Soon, AR tech will most definitely become a part of every digital user’s day-to-day life. AR tech has come a long way since the 90s when Tom Cadell, a Boeing aircraft researcher, referred it to the head-mounted digital display used by aircraft technicians. Today, brands with deep pockets like Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google and more are making huge investments in this technology. And why not, it is the future after all. Here are five trends that will make Augmented Reality the next big thing:

1. Augmented Reality in Retail: With online shopping at its peak, AR technology will soon become an indispensable part of the experience. You can simply upload a picture of yourself on the e-Commerce site and check-out if a particular t-shirt looks good on you before you buy it. Now, another reason to not get out of the house! AR technology has changed the face of shopping both online and offline. If you do decide to get out and go shopping, and you try-out a dress, but you also want to also check-out the dress in different colors, this is possible with AR-enabled mirrors that can make you see yourself in different colors or looks with the same dress. You can even see how furniture looks at your home. IKEA has developed an app for its customers with which they can view how different products would look at their homes by just pointing their cameras at the said product.

2. AR In Gaming: AR in the gaming industry has huge potential. With AR tech, it’s possible to integrate games’ visual and audio content into the gamer’s real environment. Remember when Pokemon Go came-out and you’d see gamers run around like headless chickens trying to catch them all. Well, they only looked like headless chickens because you didn’t see what they saw. Pokemon Go merged the gamer’s actual environment and the Pokemon world into their phones. DroidShooting by Google was another huge step for the gaming industry using Augmented Reality. You had to hold your camera up and you’d see flying Android targets being ‘augmented’ into your reality. It may seem a bit primitive now, but this is definitely a beginning. Video gaming can reach new heights with AR technology by its side.

3. AR In Navigation: Indoor navigation apps for indoors are gaining popularity more than ever. AR applications for indoor navigation are used mostly at airports, malls, hospitals, and more. The AR app gives the users critical information about the location to navigate seamlessly within the area. One of the biggest examples of this is Gatwick Airport’s AR app. The app helps you get to the right terminal and gate according to your flights at the airport. Other than this, the app also provides you with a virtual assistant so you get a more personalized experience.

4. AR In Education: Fancy constellations? With apps like Google Sky Map, you can view constellations in real-time and study them. Medical students can view and/or perform surgeries in real-time with no consequences whatsoever. Even students studying construction can get a better understanding of their subjects with a practical approach using AR tech in classrooms. All this without the danger of any student getting hurt.
Another noteworthy app is Google’s GeoGoogle, that superimposes information like the speed of an object, latitude, distance, longitude, and others, in the student’s environment in real-time. Students can use this to get a better understanding of navigational fundamentals like direction, speed, and distance between destinations.

When combined with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, we can expect to be surprised with what AR can create

5. AR In Advertising: Marketers see huge potential in the advertising and marketing sector. Imagine being able to let the user check-out the product in ‘augmented’ reality, letting the customer realize how it feels to actually have the product. Any customer can now be easily persuaded to buy a product. This also forces the consumer to form an emotional connection with the product even before they actually use it, thus increasing the probability of making a sale. Many brands have adopted AR as part of their marketing strategies like AR-enabled billboards. You just have to point your camera at the billboard and voila – you will watch the ad play on your phone augmented with your reality in real-time.

Augmented Reality is seeping into every industry today, and soon, it’ll become part of everyday life. There’s a huge potential for AR technology, and any industry that it enters will be successful. Especially when combined with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, we can expect to be surprised with what AR can create in 2020