The world is advancing towards technologies every passing second. We in the beginning considered having a telephone a privilege but in today’s world, it is a normal thing to have. The technologies have advanced so much even with a lot to grow that we have virtual worlds that can exist only in one’s wildest imaginations. So, we have got augmented reality and virtual reality that does sound the same but should not be confused with one another. These technologies are generating a lot of buzz because of their potential applications in marketing, gaming, promotional strategies, and entertainment. According to a recent Deloitte study, over 90% of firms with yearly revenues of $100 million to $1 billion are already utilizing augmented reality or virtual reality technologies. Virtual reality is actually a lot expensive than augmented as it gives the user the real experience using expensive headsets and other devices whereas the latter actually gives the real-life view of anything using simple devices like a camera, or smartphone to project instead of making you experience the whole thing.
Fig. Link: https://vintank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AR-VR.jpeg
We can easily expect the bend of people towards virtual reality. These provide a novel method to immerse clients in a more fascinating, dynamic, and personalized experience. And, if you’re in marketing, the chance to display the people what it’s like to use a product is invaluable. However, the language might be perplexing. One can easily get confused with the terminology so, what actually is augmented and virtual reality, and what is the difference between them?
Virtual Reality
There have been many misconceptions regarding virtual reality escalated by movies. The most particular one in this matter is ‘The Matrix’, which happened to be so realistically imaginary that people began to believe that this is what virtual reality is. The daily life of the characters and the simulations that were used was so real that it is easy to get confused. It actually is a system-generated simulation of an alternate reality. It lets the user experience something that they have never or cannot ever experience in real-life something like an alternate world. These are used actually in games a lot and also in 3D movies. It actually creates a simulation of sorts that will completely shut the real world away and the user can experience something imaginary and control it using some simple-looking sensory equipment and devices.
The VR technology has been developed to the point up until now that one can experience walking in the desert, or a snowy mountain can be experiencing forest or deep seas but from their home. But it always requires a lot of expensive equipment and effort to get it to work.
This is why it is not used extensively but for some training kind of stuff or gaming and sometimes for exclusive brand experiences.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality plays no role whatsoever in VR creation. It can be accessed with the help of simplest of the equipment like a camera or phone that is available to almost every person in the world. Augmented reality is the integration of the actual physical world and virtual elements generated by the computer. This integration is then projected over physical screens for people to be able to see it like a movie or an image. The fundamental benefit of A(ugmented) R(eality) is the way that cyber world elements blend into a viewpoint of the actual world, not as a fairly basic display of data, but via the integration of unique experiences that are regarded as natural aspects of an environment. Augmented reality is utilized to improve natural settings or situations by providing visually enhanced experiences. The data about the user’s vicinity actual environment becomes dynamic and digitally modified with the aid of advanced A(ugmented) R(eality) technologies.
Fig. Link: What is augmented reality, anyway? (theconversation.com)
The above image is one of many examples of augmented reality. The incorporation of virtual reality in consumer items necessitates careful consideration of the application framework as well as the technological platform’s restrictions. Because AR systems rely largely on the user’s engagement and engagement with the system, design can aid in the acceptance of the digital world.
Virtual Reality in marketing
There are countable examples of companies using virtual reality for their product campaigning. Understanding the actual impact of the product they purchase is always a challenge. Like Toms, the shoe company used virtual reality to create a movie named ‘A Walk in their Shoes’ to let the customers live the experience of a skateboarder that visits a child who receives a free pair.
That shows how much the pair of shoes actually help the kid. Then there is IKEA that chose a completely different route than Toms. Toms chose to use people’s emotions involved to increase their sales whereas Ikea chose to let the customers actually remodel their living rooms or kitchens with a variety of options to do so. The companies like Audi use virtual reality in training where companies like Volvo use them to provide the experience of a virtual test drive. The interactions must be explicitly specified towards demographics that would like, understand, and relate with the businesses and brands that provide them. However, personalized technology, which assists in sorting out consumers’ psychosocial patterns and preferences, may also play an important role in targeting the correct prospects for costly VR displays.
Augmented Reality in marketing
There are many examples of augmented reality technology being used in different streams like in 2016 a game that gained a lot of popularity due to this technology that is Pokémon GO.
Fig. Link: https://neilpatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/pasted-image-0-2655.png
In the game, the players are supposed to go on an adventure in the real world the Pokémon’s would appear randomly in someplace and one can catch it. Also, some specific places were marked in the real world where the players could find and battle boss Pokémon and enemies with their friends. This game got highly popular because of its innovative idea and augmented reality technology. Now companies are using this technology on toys as well. Like in Lego toys you need to just scan the barcode on the pack to watch a battle video that seems real but on your hand-held device. Many other industries from aviation to automation, travel to healthcare are adopting the technology for better training and whatnot.
