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5 August, 2022

How Can Businesses Use Augmented Reality in 2022?

by Dmitry Kornilov, CEO, and co-founder of FFFACE.ME studio

Technologies are developing faster than we imagine. We thought TikTok was for teenagers only yesterday, and today it’s a top social network with audiences of all ages. 

The same thing is happening with both augmented and virtual reality. We’ve heard so much about them being an innovation that we missed the moment they became mainstream. Moreover, it’s a medium each of us has on our phones, and businesses are already actively using it as an essential tool.

Dmitry Kornilov, CEO of Metamarketing agency FFFACE.ME, made a selection of use cases for different categories to figure out how you can implement AR in your business.

BEAUTY

Two giants, L’Oreal Paris and MAC Cosmetics have fully mastered virtual product testing for cosmetics and offer it on the web and through Instagram filters. These brands supplement the classic product fitting with additional design elements to create a fully-fledged image – ready to post. As it turns out, users try on the product and then buy it. While on Instagram, users have a more appealing trend for businesses: Try the product on > Create UGC with it > Buy later.

JEWELRY/OPTICS

Fitting works great for these categories. It is easy to implement product fitting through Instagram and Snapchat filters.

CLOTHING

Last year, digital fashion went from trend to mainstream and became one of the main vectors of fashion houses and the mass market. 

This shift was caused by advances in technology (virtual fitting in Snapchat and Instagram), the boom in the NFT market (increased sense of ownership), and the Metaverse (new use cases for digital clothing). 

Now brands can use virtual fitting in their apps and offline stores, fashion weeks, and events. Moreover, a survey by Alter Agents on behalf of Snap and Publicis Media found that 2/3 of consumers are less likely to return merchandise after using AR. As for fashion, nearly 70% said they were likely to buy clothes after using AR.

SALES GENERATION

Augmented reality can also be tied to direct sales, although this requires a fully-fledged marketing funnel. An example of this funnel is the case for Luxoptica (Ukraine’s biggest chain of opticians). Users were given a free promo coupon for an ophthalmologist consultation as a gift for playing an AR game. While getting tested, more than 300 promo participants made purchases topping over UAH 500 000. The conversion was tracked thanks to a promo coupon sent to all participants.

YOU CAN RECREATE THE MARKETING FUNNEL BY FOLLOWING STEPS: 

  1. Create an Instagram filter to engage your audience
  2. Get additional reach thanks to the user-generated content 
  3. Give a free service/product as a prize for using the filter, which can only be claimed at the point of sale
  4. Convert people who used the introductory service to your customers

INTERIOR DESIGN

The LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series allow users to scan the area around the user and accurately measure the distance between different points. This enables the creation of photorealistic scans of almost anything. For example, here’s what happens if you scan a mini-van:

What exactly to scan and how to use it depends on your goals. The fact that anything can quickly be turned into a 3D model is excellent news, especially for interior designers.

The same technology also has a reverse use case. LiDAR allows you to place anything on the surface in a particular space, considering surfaces’ height, width, and depth. For example, it might look like this:

These solutions are great for capturing unique content, but we can also find practical applications. For example, you can try new wallpaper and tiles in your bathroom.

 

FURNITURE

It’s been known for a while now that furniture could be located in a room with AR. Of the world’s giants, Amazon and Ikea are increasingly working on perfecting this medium.

SOCIAL PROJECTS

AR can be a powerful tool for social and charitable activities, especially on social networks like Instagram.

In the summer of 2022, the use case with AR merch for Pride month became popular. So an ordinary T-shirt received a unique additional digital layer, thanks to scanning the QR code on the item. UGC content from users helped innovatively spread the Pride message. Examples include Berlin Pride and LGBT tech merch.

LGBT Tech merch

Berlin Pride merch

Another example would be the mechanics of donating from a brand to a charitable foundation for each UGC and a brand mark.

It is simple. Create a thematic filter and encourage your audience to post stories with this filter.

So stories + filter + brand tag = charitable donation from your brand.

In this way, you will not only activate your audience but make them feel like philanthropists by simply posting stories.

 

ART

AR art continues to evolve, and digital works are now perceived as equal to physical ones. Sometimes AR solution is even better since we observe it through a phone because everything is ready for content creation and can give us information about the art object. For example, this is how the KAWS exhibition was held.

KAWS, COMPANION (EXPANDED) in Paris, 2020, augmented reality. Courtesy: KAWS and Acute Art.
KAWS, COMPANION (EXPANDED) in Sao Paulo, 2020, augmented reality. Courtesy: KAWS and Acute Art

Ukrainian artist Waone Interesni Kazki succeeded in this direction. While quarantine restrictions were peaking, he created his AR gallery and presented his sculptures and paintings in AR format.

CONCLUSION

AR has become a tool that can solve real problems. If earlier AR provided a solution, it is necessary for some industries today. For example, trying on products remotely and using AR is almost the only tool for art to interact with the audience during the pandemic. So find AR cases in your industry. The time to develop a case for your niche could be right now.

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