Augmented Reality: Vision, Results and Tips
“You mean to tell me that we can put any virtual content into reality? Is a sheet of paper with a black and white drawing enough to do the magic?”
Almost ten years have passed since we heard these words,
and even today we are still excited to think of how many projects can be developed and
in the potential of this new mass-media that is enabling us to achieve ambitious objectives in all market sectors.
Since that day we are no longer the same, we no longer have the same vision.
That day, driven by the cyberpunk movies and literature of our childhood, we realized that the possibilities were endless.
The newly initiated change was an opportunity not seen since the heyday of the Internet.
Every revolution brings with it the seeds of evolution and we absolutely had to participate.
That’s why we chose augmented reality: because it’s a technological construct that
is rooted in the history of IT and a vision of a fascinating future, of which we want to be protagonists and an active part.
We firmly believe that the difficulty of Industry 4.0 today lies in the inability to focus on the near future.
Perhaps because, unlike the big American brands, here we always lack a fundamental role in the big brands:
the “futurist”, the non-technical technician, who becomes the spokesperson and oracle of the way forward.
That is why we have decided to open our agency TwoReality with the vision and mission to explore and expand the role that technological innovation will play in the field of communication.
The first first movers were true visionaries who have created the best conditions
for technology and information giants to invest sufficient sums to bring augmented reality technology to the current state of the art:
This is no longer an embryonic situation, but the beginning of an exponential curve that awaits it in the near future.
Augmented reality today is the child of these technologies, which it uses to its advantage by translating them into complex but (almost) always effective forms.
Today, an increasing number of companies and agencies are conducting native experiences in
augmented reality, although in reality those who have been working for many years
in this industry have a vision and know personally the key figures and
know very well that nothing can be invented without having a specific and deep experience.
Experience is required as well as the ability to manage customer expectations.
towards concrete objectives, providing scalable services, without being afraid to say “no” too, if this,
in the end, it allows to focus the main objective in a more effective way with an even more coherent project.
Working on augmented reality projects for large companies is a source of great satisfaction because it is easy to bring tangible results to the meeting table.
It is often sufficient to develop a demo, if the client’s expectations are well defined by the briefing and ideation phases,
to realize the concrete benefits that augmented reality can bring to virtually every industry.
The technological progress of the last twenty years shows that the technologies that have been successful,
Although the forecasts were not the best, they are those that improve production processes under a double impulse: simplification / depth.
It is precisely here that augmented reality now has to work:
simplification of the processes and nodes of the production/design/development/development pipeline.
training to give a complete and immediate knowledge of the activities that are nowadays
are abstruse, complex or organized in a way that lacks functionality.
Marketing data is always promising,
although the best market research is still really hard to achieve
and are developed only by bigdata giants (Gartner, CB Insight, etc).
We believe that in the near future interest from even more sectors will approach
to this new mass media, driven by the spread of word of mouth and the concrete experiences of pioneering brands in the sector, which have had the courage and
the forecast to invest in the sector in recent years, to pave the way for the future mass adoption of these technologies,
always speaking in terms of brand vision b2b and not consumer product which, unfortunately, will still have many obstacles to overcome, first and foremost the high entry level costs.
Successful case histories are published in several newspapers,
but care must be taken to evaluate ROI through the eyes of a customer,
going beyond the first point of view, which is the media effect, word of mouth, the wow effect, which is much talked about today.
Vision: From the consumer’s point of view, there is still a lot to do to achieve market forecasts.
Companies that develop AR software should primarily focus on technology
available on the market today and on the accessibility of these tools by the general public.
In our opinion, the key words are immersion, connection and interactivity,
but these must be linked to the opening of a new work methodology,
just as it was for typography when digital printing was born, photography with the arrival of digital cameras, architecture with the arrival of autocad, etc.
Now that new tools are taking shape,
individuals and professionals should be allowed massive access,
awaiting the arrival of high-performance devices at an affordable price:
The resolution of the devices and the power of the processors must also be increased.
When a digital artist approaches the touch controllers for the first time and uses the viewfinder,
it only takes a few moments to discover that it is a lifetime of training.
for this moment and to viscerally sense the infinite power of this mass-media.
The shocking that allows you to create in an absolute way by entering into your own subject without any distraction.
The future of augmented reality:
Over the next 5 years, there will be a progressive miniaturization of devices,
new input methods that no longer require gesture control,
and standardization of UX and virtual interfaces.
The primary market is likely to be the b2b enterprise industry and business applications for training and professionals, along with a new explosion of
(which has already started in China) of pure entertainment b2c arcades:
playful environments, escape rooms and virtual areas accessible as theme parks
know how to excite the audience, without the audience having to buy expensive
devices that are not amortized in a manner consistent with their cost.
We are convinced that in 10 years the audience will treat VR and AR as they do today.
smartphones with their extraordinarily powerful processors, which are
have entered our daily lives.
Today we are always connected, tomorrow we will always be ready to pass in AR.
for a live conversation with a friend on the other side of the world or for a meeting in AR
or for an online order in our trusted store.
It will be a quick, simple and immediate change.
Finally, in 25 years augmented reality will be so widespread and standardized that,
if far-sighted choices have not been made to protect individuals within their real world,
will risk seeing dark areas, dangerous border areas where it will be easy to go into exile at the expense of real connections and everyday life.
But in the end the technology has always been this:
a razor on which we can walk, being careful not to lose our balance.
Advice for companies:
For companies wishing to enter this sector, we always recommend that they work with
with agencies structured and present in this field for years,
but also to tirelessly test new applications, to experiment,
watch immersive videos and follow the evolution of hardware and software,
without being too “picky” or delicate, to put it bluntly.
As with all young technologies, there will be a boom of agencies and
service promoters followed by an exponential decline,
as is the case in the world of application development or social brand management.
that today is likely to face this end.
Always ask for and evaluate the case studies conducted by these companies and be suspicious.
of small startups without know-how or communication agencies that, as a result of the lack of work in the field of communication and marketing,
are jumping into the AR VR world to try to make money.
In fact, we always recommend to study and develop projects that are useful for the company, and that have a measurable return and leave aside the “wow effect”,
which could be effective until a few years ago but is now showing its most obvious limits,
since people are already sufficiently introduced to the subject.
Vision: We always expect more and more from this technology. (and rightly so, I would say!).
We conclude with a practical tip:
if your company has a limited budget or a short development time,
do not develop projects but you can dedicate yourselves to analyzing the market to identify
wishes and establish appropriate timelines and budgets for future projects:
in fact, it takes time to develop these applications to perfection.
and adequate investment, as well as technological tools that advance exponential growth and that, if started prematurely,
may come to an end leaving a great disappointment.
Today, we have a single certainty, shared with our colleagues and collaborators, like a mantra that trusts us.
Augmented reality is, and will be, such a sweeping revolution that there will be room for everyone,
for every professional, for every brand, for every company and for every sector:
we live in the most exciting time in human history and the best is yet to come!
If you are ready to take advantage of augmented reality, TwoReality offers everything you need to start the learning process for your company.