Commercial augmented reality
Commercial augmented reality (CAR) is the use of augmented reality (AR) to support B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) commercial activities, particularly for the retail industry. The use of CAR started in 2010 with virtual dressing rooms for E-commerce.[1]
For commercial purposes, AR applications are often used to integrate print and video marketing. With an AR-enabled device, such as a smartphone or smart glasses, aiming a camera at a printed material can trigger an AR video version or animation of the promotional and informational material superimposed on the image.
Apart from the primary use of CAR, technological advancements have yielded more commercial applications for retail, B2C and B2B markets operating with physical stores as well as online virtual stores.
History[edit]
The history of commercial augmented reality is brief compared to that of augmented reality.
In 2010, virtual dressing rooms were developed for E-commerce retailers to help customers check the look and fit of products such as clothing, undergarments, apparel, fashion products, and accessories. An AR technology was developed in 2012 to market a commemorative coin in Aruba.[2]
In 2013, CrowdOptic technology was used to create AR experiences for an annual festival in Toronto, Canada.[3] An AR app Makeup Genius released to try out beauty makeup and styles with the help of handheld devices was released in 2014.[4]
In 2016, a Wikitude app included an update to provide AR campaign opportunity to businesses.[5] Users could point phone cameras at certain places and get information from websites such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, Twitter, and Facebook. In 2017, Lenovo developed a Tango-enabled smartphone to assist retailers.
The Wayfair app can use augmented reality to enable customers to view a virtual piece of furniture in their home or office before buying.[6]
Uses[edit]
Product previews[edit]
In-store retail customers can view virtual previews of products packed in a package, without opening it at all. An AR app for Lego[7] is an ideal example of this use. Lego displays an animation of a product in an informative manner to the interested children and their parents. Image recognition technology is behind it rather than sticking a code on the box and scanning it.
To accomplish this, Lego has implemented a second-generation Sandy Bridge Intel Processor that can popup 3D animation over the top of the box. Moreover, the animation can move or rotate as the box moves or rotates. This is possible by the recognition of box movements and postures.
IKEA Place[edit]
A product catalog for certain items like furniture cannot test in real life for a real environment. Moreover, small 3D images of products are of little use when the user wants to see the furniture product in real life in their home or office. IKEA has launched their AR catalog IKEA Place[8] that helps to visualize the furniture products in real-world spaces like homes or offices. It also helps customers to judge the appropriate size and shape of the furniture be fitting in the actual environment that meets their needs.
Personal shopper[edit]
IBM has released an AR app that helps shoppers to obtain detailed information on a product without touching it or inviting sales assistants to describe it.[9] It operates if Beacon technology is applied in the store.
Art market[edit]
In 2015, an AR app was developed by Itondo with the aim of visualizing an art piece on different locations on walls before taking it from a gallery. It displayed live previews of a two-dimensional image of the artwork which is capable of scaling on the walls. Moreover, it enables an art gallery to display background previews using pre-saved photos of the different walls provided by the shopper. The app helps the user to visualize the best location for the artwork before they make a purchase.
Fashion and beauty[edit]
Fashion and apparel customers buy products after selecting the best fit by trying them on in a Changing room. This can result in lengthy queues waiting a vacant room. Topshop with Kinect has created CAR dressing rooms to overcome the problem to some extent.[10] This technology has even allowed for size estimation in the dressing room.[11] The Gap has followed the trend.[12] The Augmented Reality dressing rooms are equipped with the AR devices, which are in turn helping focus on the targeted dress/product and capture the virtual 3D image of the product/dress. It helps to visualize the dress on the body of the shopper/user.
Shiseido has developed a makeup mirror called TeleBeauty that helps female shoppers to visualize the product performance on their faces well in advance of applying it.[13] The capability of the AR mirror allows it to portray the shopper's image with lipsticks, eyeliners, and blushes with real-time updates.
An example of augmented reality is the Burberry Beauty Box AR application.[14] It provides a nail bar application. Shoppers can choose their skin tone with the app and paint different polishes on the bar to check how the polishes look in real life.
American Apparel has products in varying types of colors and color combinations.[15] This can make the color selection process daunting. Therefore, it has invented an AR app to help in the selection process without the customer having to wear the actual product. The AR app simulates the same products in available color choices and makes the selection process easier. The AR app provides real-time ratings and reviews uploaded by customers online and tempts online shoppers to visit the bricks-and-mortar stores.
De Beers has released an AR app useful for online shoppers who wish to see jewelry products as if they are wearing them in the real world.[16] A user can use the mobile AR app by pointing a mobile camera on the image of the item. The app displays a virtual simulation of the jewelry products with real-time updates so products move with the user's movements and displays different facets at different angles. Moreover, customers can judge that how the jewelry looks in certain lighting and on different skin tones.
The Converse Sampler[17] is an AR app to assist customers to visualize a shoe with real-time updates. A customer needs to focus the camera of their mobile device on their legs after opening the app. The app provides a catalog for the selection of products. Once a selection is made the app begins superimposing products on the real world legs and gives an idea of the fit as well as its look so the customer can purchase the product online with confidence.
Software and algorithms[edit]
Camera-based AR algorithms[edit]
Camera-based AR software may be capable of carrying an image registration process where software is working independently from the camera and camera images, and it drives real-world coordinates to accomplish the AR process. Camera-based AR software can achieve augmented reality using two-step methods: It detects interest points, fiduciary marker, and optical flows in camera images or videos. It can restore the real-world coordinate system from the data collected in the first step. To restore the real-world coordinates data some methods used include: SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), structure from motion methods, such as bundle adjustment, and mathematical methods like projective or epipolar geometry, geometric algebra, and rotation representation (with an exponential map, Kalman & particle filters, non-linear optimization, and robust statistics).
ARML[edit]
The aim of ARML (Augmented Reality Markup Language) is defining and interacting with various augmented reality scenes. XML and ECMA scripts are parts of ARML. The role of XML is to describe the location as well as the appearance of the virtual objects in AR visualization. The dynamic access to the properties of virtual objects is possible using ECMA scripts binding.
ARML's object model is built on three main concepts:
- Features: Represents physical objects in AR scene
- Virtual Assets: Represents virtual objects in Augmented Reality scene
- Anchor: Define the spatial relationship between a physical and virtual object in AR scene. The Anchors are four different types—Geometries, Tractable, Relative To, and Screen Anchor.
Software development kits[edit]
AR application development kits are available for a rapid development process in the form of Software development kits (SDKs) including: CloudRidAR, Vuforia, AR ToolKit, Catchoom CraftAR, Mobinett AR, Wikitude, Blippar, Layar, Meta, and ARLab.
Controversy[edit]
A controversy was created by Pokémon Go, a game with two technical problems.[18] The tracking and visualization processes handled in the absence of ergonomic, safe, and secure environment. The immersion in the game by players was too deep and resulted in several deaths, which caused some governments like China to ban the game.[19] This unconventional combination of technology may lead to new inventions, but the cost of the hardware, software, and implementation makes it challenging for common commercial production.
References[edit]
- ^ D.W.F., van Krevelen; Poelman, R. (2010). "A Survey of Augmented Reality Technologies, Applications, and Limitations" (PDF). The International Journal of Virtual Reality. Systems Engineering Section, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. 9(2):1-20.
- ^ Alexander, Michael (July 20, 2012). "Arbua Shoco Owl Silver Coin with Augmented Reality". Coin Updates.
- ^ Wadhwa, Tarun (June 3, 2013). "CrowdOptic and L'Oreal To Make History By Demonstrating How Augmented Reality Can Be A Shared Experience". Forbes.
- ^ Tanase, Alexandru (December 31, 2014). "Augmented Beauty: L'Oreal Makeup Genius App". Tech Accute.com.
- ^ Palladino, Tommy (February 6, 2017). "Wikitude & Lenovo Converge for Augmented Reality Cloud Platform". Augmented Reality News.
- ^ Burritt, Mary (September 19, 2017). "Wayfair releases AR app for iPhone, iPad". Furniture Today.
- ^ "New LEGO catalog 2014 as an app with 3D augmented reality animations". Best Kinder Apps. January 11, 2014.
- ^ Tracy, Phillip (Oct 11, 2017). "IKEA's AR app is as fascinating as it is flawed". The Daily Dot.
- ^ Rash, Wayne (March 4, 2013). "IBM Launches Augmented Reality Shopping Assistant at CeBIT". eWeek.
- ^ Houston, Thomas. "Kinect Virtual Dressing Room At Topshop Lets Ladies 'Try On' Clothes". The Huffington Post.
- ^ KAEWRAT, Charlee; BOONBRAHM, Poonpong (2017). "A Survey for a Virtual Fitting Room by a Mixed Reality Technology". Walailak Journal of Science & Technology. 14: 10: 759–767.
- ^ "A Closer Look At Gap's Augmented Reality Initiative". Forbes. Great Speculations. January 5, 2017.
- ^ Lila, MacLellan (October 20, 2016). "Shiseido partnered with Microsoft to create a make-up filter for women who telecommute". QUARTZ.
- ^ "Burberry turns to Apple for augmented-reality fashion app". The MalayMail Online. September 28, 2017.
- ^ McQuarrie, Laura (August 5, 2013). "The Vuforia App Digitizes American Apparel Stores". Trend Hunter.
- ^ DeMarco, Anthony (October 12, 2011). "De Beers Turns to Augmented Reality to Market its Branded Diamond". Forbes.
- ^ "The Sampler By CONVERSE - Augmented Reality iPhone App". Freshness. December 7, 2010.
- ^ Stein, Scott (July 7, 2017). "Pokemon Go changed the way people look at their phones forever". Cnet.
- ^ Kain, Erik (January 10, 2017). "'Pokémon GO' Banned In China". Forbes.