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It enhances user experiences and transforms one's surroundings into an immersive learning environment, which is especially valuable for manufacturing processes and Industry 4.0. That allows users of industrial systems to "become one" with their machines and techniques and enhance technology, IoT, and human creativity and ingenuity.
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented Reality is created by overlaying digital data onto physical objects, creating a 3D environment that enables users to engage with the digital and physical worlds. AR is not a standalone technology. Its value comes from being part of a connected Industry 4.0 ecosystem that includes everything from automated robots to big data.
That is a brief overview of the process involved in augmented reality:
- An AR-enabled device with a camera, like smart glasses, tablets, or smartphones, can parse a video to identify an object, the surrounding environment, or both. For example, it could be a machine or the layout in a warehouse.
- The real world and the virtual environment are connected by a digital twin, i.e. a 3D replica in the cloud. The digital twin collects data from both real and virtual environments.
- It then retrieves the information from the cloud. The device superimposes the digital data over an object using trackers or markers like GPS, barometers, accelerometers and orientation sensors. It creates an interface that is part real and part digital.
- The user can interact with an object using a touch screen, voice commands, gestures, and real-time data from the product.
What is The Difference Between Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality?
The differences between virtual, augmented and mixed realities are not as pronounced. Still, each technology interacts differently with the virtual and real worlds:
- Virtual Reality (VR): VR removes users from reality and immerses them in a digital world. That is done by using headsets or head-mounted displays. Users can navigate in any direction, interact with objects and much more within this virtual world. Virtual reality is used in many fields, including healthcare, education, and architecture.
- AR Augments: The world around us with digital data. In manufacturing or industrial settings, users benefit from having their hands free and extended reality applications work on mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. Glasses or headsets provide the best AR experience.
- Mixed Reality: MR combines imagination with reality, allowing users to simultaneously see the real and virtual worlds. Imagine playing a video game where you are drinking coffee while offering a fictional character some coffee from your cup. That is mixing reality.
How is Augmented Reality used in the Industry?
The industry uses AR for everything, from asset identification and knowledge transfer to training. Augmented reality provides workers with more context and information about their product, machine or environment by combining the real and virtual.
The following are some of the areas where AR is used:
- Imagine walking around virtual prototypes that you and your potential customers can examine and test from all angles. Product designers can bring their products to life using augmented reality and digital twins. They can try and tweak them even before they build anything.
- AR allows workers to gain instant information about any machine they interact with. The user can connect to an expert in any part of the world or access the most recent manual. It supports non-disruptive production.
- Training and education for employees and operators: Augmented Reality allows workers to be trained "on-demand" on machines and equipment, transforming their surroundings into a learning environment. Technology can create environments that help employees improve their skills, increase productivity, and increase safety.
- Quality Control: Integrating AR in quality assurance and control can reduce the time it takes to reach the market, improve production processes, and prevent defects. For instance, by wearing AR glasses, technicians can look at a product to get information generated by IoT sensors embedded into the product's components. These sensors generate data about each element and alert them to any issues.
Augmented Reality Benefits in Manufacturing
Many industries, including manufacturers, are adopting augmented reality because it improves operational efficiency. It reduces production downtime and identifies problems faster while keeping the process moving.
AR has many benefits for industrial manufacturing:
- AR: Can improve product development. By implementing AR in the design phase, designers can meet modern consumer needs for shorter product lifespans. They also reduce prototyping costs.
- Processes simplified: Visualized workflows with step-by-step directions can help predict problems, reduce errors that lead to rework, and accelerate complex assembly tasks.
- AR Streamlines: Warehouse management, AR saves time by managing inventory, product selection, minimizing downtime, making it easy for technicians to diagnose problems and improving employee training.
- The immersive: 3D experience and the virtual learning by doing are still new to workers. That boosts worker engagement.
- Risk Reduction: AR does not just substitute the real work of people and equipment but also provides a safe learning environment where workers can practice virtual tasks without risk. It improves workers' safety, inspection, training and workflow.
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Mid-market Companies use Customer Services Through Augmented Reality(AR)
Recently, there has been much talk about the customer experience. According to recent reports, over 80% of marketers believe they will compete primarily or exclusively based on customer experience. What does it mean in reality? What is the impact of this trend on mid-market businesses?
The customer experience, in the end, is a collection of interactions that a client has with a company throughout the journey, relationship, and transaction. Brands that create, implement, and improve positive customer experience throughout their journey will reap enormous benefits. They'll also find new ways to increase business efficiency and add value.
Businesses that focus on the customer experience are more likely to:
- 74% of consumers will purchase based on customer service experience (Forbes/Arm Treasure Data).
- Customers will be willing to pay an additional 16% for a great experience. (PwC)
- CX is responsible for two-thirds of all customer loyalty. This figure exceeds both 'brand' as well as 'price.'
- Digital transformation is a crucial driver of customer satisfaction, according to executives. The top three benefits are increased operational efficiency (40%), faster time-to-market (36%), and meeting customer expectations (35%). (PTC)
The real opportunities lie in the mid-market. Businesses that lead with a customer-centric mindset create competitive advantages and truly differentiate themselves in the market. Smaller, more agile companies are focusing on key customer pain points and building moats that increase both value and profit in the market.
Remove Pain Points
There are some aspects of the customer journey that customers dislike. That could be going to a shop, applying for finance, or any other issue. They become moments that cause customers to avoid, defect, or stop doing business with the brand. They have become an opportunity for competitors or disruptors to add value. These pain points can be created when legacy systems or silos come together in a way that makes a process. That is only sometimes to improve the customer experience but to cause pain.
Some Companies are Building their entire Business Around These Problems
Uber: Uber is a business that has grown out of the taxi service. Uber took away the hassles associated with calling a taxi, waiting blindly for one to arrive and having an unpleasant ride and payment experience, and turned it into a profitable venture. Uber connected drivers and riders in an instant with the click of a single button.
Casper: Casper did not set out to create a superior or innovative mattress. Casper set out to eliminate the hassle of purchasing a new bed, which is lying down on one. At the same time, an awkward salesperson stands above you and tells you how comfortable it feels. Casper transformed this by combining different technologies (e-commerce and large-item logistics, bed in a bag, etc.) to create a product that can be tested for 100 nights with just a single click.
Warby Parker: Warby didn't invent eyeglasses but made stylish and high-quality glasses accessible. Warby Parker took several steps to alleviate consumer concerns in the face of a near-monopolistic market. The company changed their pricing by cutting the markups and overhead on the products. The company changed how consumers tested the product by giving them five pairs to try at home and only returning the pair they didn't like. The company used the latest technology to go one step further by offering an online vision screening and virtual reality product trial.
Companies also leverage cherished moments to increase brand loyalty and grow their business. It opens up the way we view our customers and interact with them. After removing the initial pain, the second phase immerses consumers in the brand promise. That will ensure that the relationship between the brand and the customer continues to be fulfilled. As an example:
Airbnb: Airbnb is the world's largest travel site. It has expanded its service offerings beyond lodging. The company offers its customers local journeys and experiences. They are provided throughout the entire shopping experience and after the purchase. That gives a more holistic, multi-dimensional experience.
Glossier: Glossier is a brand that has grown out of a highly successful blog. They provide products and experiences to their loyal readers. Its brand revolves around skincare, and each aspect of its knowledge, from shopping to learning about personal rituals to experiencing insider events to discovering your own, creates moments for joy. Glossier is growing its customer base by fulfilling the brand promise at each touchpoint and listening to its customers' needs.
Mid-market companies: Have an enormous opportunity to create new value propositions for the market while simultaneously reducing business inefficiencies and maximizing profitability. Mid-market firms can gain a competitive advantage by focusing on the customer and using technology to enable critical interaction points. They will be faster, more agile and have better decision-making.
Augmented Reality: Enhancing The Customer Experience
Not long ago, immersive technology was associated with science fiction. It has been associated in recent years with video games. Many businesses today are realizing the benefits that augmented and virtual reality can bring to their business. AR and VR are now widespread, from marketing and customer service to training, prototyping, and product design.
Immersive AR technologies such as VR can help businesses and brands build and strengthen client relationships while increasing brand loyalty. The human-centered approach of immersive technologies can provide both practical and emotional support. Technology has advanced to the point where AR and VR are now mainstream. They can be used for a user-friendly experience that is realistic, affordable, and accessible.
Differences between Virtual and Augmented Reality
Business owners need to understand what VR and AR can do to make the most out of them. Virtual reality, on the other hand, is intended to remove users from their actual space augmented reality, on the other hand, overlays real-world objects with digital images. Virtual reality removes users from the real world. Still, augmented reality blurs the line between the virtual and the real.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality can be a wide range of experiences, from interactive computer-generated content to 360° images. To access VR content that is most realistic, the user must use a specific headset and hand controller. Hardware is required to allow users to interact, see and hear the VR experience. This equipment allows for the most immersive VR experiences. However, many VR experiences, like virtual shops, do not require any extra accessories or headsets. Businesses can use VR to create lasting, deep connections with their customers. VR's immersive quality is critical in grabbing users' attention and developing empathy.
Augmented Reality
Snapchat filters and Pokemon GO, a popular mobile game, are two famous examples of augmented reality. It is easier for people to use AR than VR, as it is accessible on smartphones and tablets without the need for special equipment. (Although the equipment is available for high-end AR experiences). It may not have the same emotional impact as VR, but its ease of use makes it an excellent tool for appealing to a large audience. AR allows businesses to offer users the ability to share and access content through any device, whether they are at work or home.
Read More: Working, Limitation, & Future Growth Opportunities in Augmented Reality?
Retail and Metaverse AR and VR Settings
Each site is its island since the Internet doesn't belong to a single entity. Imagine users traveling between islands, such as news, social networking, collaboration online, banking etc. The goal of the Metaverse is evident in this case: create a 3D environment where customers can experience a 3D shopping journey that boosts engagement and sales and keeps them connected with your brand.
Most people still use tablets, laptops and phones to access the web. They don't go virtual shopping, attend virtual events or hang out with their friends. You may be watching the web on a screen rather than being there. That means you are connected to the Metaverse without yet feeling it. There are more and more options to immerse yourself in the Metaverse.
Metaverses of Retail are Expanding
Today, AR, VR and the Metaverse showcase new products, collections and sales processes. The Metaverse is expanding due to the retail and ecommerce industries. Businesses can use AR and VR to immerse audiences in a virtual store identical to their physical flagship. The flat, online store can transform into a shoppable, immersive environment.
Manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers can provide their customers with a wall-to-wall, superior experience. That will help them make better decisions and create a lasting brand association. From any device, you can interact with live furniture and accessories, dynamic countertops, floor selections, or changing walls.
The Metaverse is where fashion retailers, wholesalers and other businesses can be involved. They should use the same tools and technology that shape the retail industry to keep all their options open when physical retail doors are closed.
Businesses that have already planned to offer a metaverse-like customer experience will be in a better position if the Metaverse is real. Companies are becoming more open towards the Metaverse, with 82% of those who have tried AR or VR reporting the benefits as equal to or exceeding expectations.
Businesses that are prepared to offer a virtual reality/augmented reality experience for their customers will gain an advantage as the Metaverse takes shape. To date, 82% of companies that have used AR/VR report the benefits as equal to or exceeding their expectations.
What VR and AR Can Do for the Customer Experience?
Customers increasingly depend on digital tools for making purchasing decisions, completing the purchase process and contacting customer service after a purchase. VR and AR are the tools a business needs to improve and support its strategy for customer experience. These are the top reasons why companies use AR and VR.
Informed Decision-Making
Customers interested in trying things out before buying them will benefit from immersive and realistic content. That is the case for most customers today. AR is used by businesses in all industries, including cosmetics and automobiles.
Reducing Buyer's Regret
When deciding to buy a service or product, most consumers use a mixture of logic and emotion. AR's visualization abilities can eliminate any doubts shoppers may have about a product or service. Customers will feel more secure in their purchase and regret it less later.
Customer Service Enhanced
Immersive VR technology is a great way to support customers throughout their journey. AR and VR can enhance customer experiences in many ways, from improving product instruction to connecting customers with the support team for their product or service.
Full Immersion
AR and VR work together to give customers a truly immersive experience. They can imagine themselves as they make their purchases. They get a unique experience with 360-degree views, customizable options and a virtual location. Customers are generally more satisfied and willing to purchase products when they can customize them. They may even spend 10% more.
Customers are More Connected
Businesses can inform and delight customers by integrating immersive technology into their customer experience centers. These connections enhance customer experiences and build brand loyalty.
Convenience
Many shoppers want to avoid wandering a shop looking for specific items. AR can help shoppers navigate large stores quickly, find what they are looking for easily and have it delivered right to their door.
Today, the customer experience is critical to business survival. Every day, the impact of COVID-19 on human interactions and relationships is less a temporary phenomenon. Immersive technologies such as AR and VR have become the answer to establishing vital links with customers. The technologies can make customers feel empowered and valued by your brand. That is the key to most business growth strategies.
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The Wrap-Up
Consumer behavior today has drastically changed. Both consumers and retailers are now aware of the importance of augmented realities. Retailers have adopted AR in multiple purchase points due to the improvements that boosted fact brings. In a few months, the retail industry has seen a ten-fold increase in innovation. Due to the fear of a pandemic, many people prefer a more detailed AR experience.
Physical stores were hit hard, while the ecommerce sector experienced an unexpected spike. The AR-enabled technological drift is to thank for this. Brands that shy away from AR will lose customers to AR companies competitors. Beware! Beware! Are you ready for AR success in your company? Do you have the research and analysis to back up your AR efforts? We will give you all the tools your company needs to improve customer service.
