Cases:(Management Information System Chapter 11)
AUGMENTED REALITY:
REALITY GETS BETTER
Many of us are familiar with the
concept of virtual reality, either from films like Avatar and The Matrix, or
from science fiction novels and video games. Virtual reality is a
computer-generated, interactive, three-dimensional environment in which people
become immersed. But in the past few years, a new spin on virtual reality known
as augmented reality has emerged as a major focus of many companies’ marketing
efforts. More than just science fiction, augmented reality is an exciting new
way of creating richer, more interactive experiences with users and future
customers. Augmented reality differs from traditional virtual reality because
users of augmented reality (also called AR) tools maintain a presence in the
real world. In virtual reality, users are completely immersed in a
computer-generated environment, and often use head-mounted displays that
facilitate the immersion and eliminate any interference from the real world.
Augmented reality mixes real-life
images with graphics or other effects and can use any of three major display
techniques—headmounted displays, just as with virtual reality, spatial
displays, which display graphical information on physical objects, and handheld
displays. Almost everyone has already encountered some form of AR technology.
Sports fans are familiar with the yellow first-down markers shown on televised
football games, or the special markings denoting the location and direction of
hockey pucks in hockey games. These are examples of augmented reality. Other
common usages of AR include medical procedures like image-guided surgery, where
data acquired from computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) scans or from ultrasound imaging are superimposed on the patient in the
operating room. Other industries where AR has caught on include military
training, engineering design, robotics, and consumer design. As companies get
more comfortable with augmented reality, marketers are developing creative new
ways to use the technology. Print media companies see AR as a way to generate
excitement about their products in an entirely new way.
Esquire magazine used AR
extensively in its December 2009 issue, adding several stickers with designs
that, when held up to a Web camera, triggered interactive video segments
featuring cover subject Robert Downey Jr. Turning the magazine in different
directions yielded different images. A fashion spread describing dressing in
layers showed actor Jeremy Renner adding more layers as the seasons changed.
The orientation of the magazine as held up to a Web camera determined the
season. Lexus placed an advertisement in the magazine that displayed “radar
waves” bouncing off of nearby objects on the page. Again, adjusting the angle
of the magazine affected the content of the ad. Lexus Vice President of
Marketing David Nordstrom stated that AR was attractive to him because “our job
as marketers is to be able to communicate to people in interesting ways that
are relevant to them and also entertaining.” User response to the magazine was
positive, suggesting that AR accomplished this goal.
Other companies that have pursued
AR as a way to attract and entertain their customers include Papa John’s, which
added AR tags to their pizza boxes. These tags display images of the company’s
founder driving a car when triggered using a Web camera. That company’s
president believes AR is “a great way to get customers involved in a promotion
in a more interactive way than just reading or seeing an ad.” Mobile phone application
developers are also excited about the growing demand for AR technologies. Most
mobile phones have camera, global positioning system (GPS), Internet, and
compass functionalities, which make smartphones ideal candidates for handheld
AR displays. One of the major new markets for AR is in real estate, where
applications that help users access real estate listings and information on the
go have already taken off. An Amsterdam-based start-up, application developer
Layar, has created an app for French real estate agency MeilleursAgents.com
where users can point their phones at any building in Paris and within seconds
the phone displays the property’s value per square meter and a small photo of
the property, along with a live image of the building streamed through the
phone’s camera.
Over 30 similar applications have
been developed in other countries, including American real estate company
ZipRealty, whose HomeScan application has met with early success. While the
technology is still new and will take some time to develop, users can already
stand in front of some houses for sale and point their phones at the property
to display details superimposed on their screen. If the house is too far away,
users can switch to the phone’s interactive map and locate the house and other
nearby houses for sale. ZipRealty is so encouraged by the early response to
HomeScan that it plans to add data on restaurants, coffee shops, and other
neighborhood features to the app. Another well-known application, Wikitude,
allows users to view user-contributed Webbased information about their
surroundings using their mobile phones. Skeptics believe that the technology is
more of a gimmick than a useful tool, but Layar’s application has been
downloaded over 1,000 times per week since its launch. Being able to access
information on properties is more than just a gimmick—it is a legitimately
useful tool to help buyers on the go.
Marketers are finding that users
increasingly want their phones to have all of the functionality of desktop
computers, and more AR mash-ups have been released that display information on
tourist sites, chart subway stops, and restaurants, and allow interior
designers to superimpose new furniture schemes onto a room so that potential
customers can more easily choose what they like best. Analysts believe that AR
is here to stay, predicting that the mobile AR market will grow to $732 million
by 2014.
CASE
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between virtual reality and
augmented reality?
2. Why is augmented reality so appealing to marketers?
3. What makes augmented reality useful for real estate
shopping applications?
4. Suggest some other knowledge work applications for
augmented reality
1.
Augmented reality differs from
traditional virtual reality because users of augmented reality (also called AR)
tools maintain a presence in the real world. In virtual reality, users are
completely immersed in a computer-generated environment, and often use
head-mounted displays that facilitate the immersion and eliminate any interference
from the real world. Augmented reality mixes real-life images with graphics or
other effects and can use any of three major display techniques—headmounted
displays, just as with virtual reality, spatial displays, which display
graphical information on physical objects, and handheld displays
2.
Companies get more comfortable
with augmented reality, marketers are developing creative new ways to use the
technology. Print media companies see AR as a way to generate excitement about
their products in an entirely new way.
3.
Because users can already stand
in front of some houses for sale and point their phones at the property to
display details super imposed on their screen. If the house is too far away,
users can switch to the phone’s interactive map and locate the house and other
nearby houses for sale
4.
Android
application, that can help people to know just pointing at any building,
places, location and within seconds the phone displays the property’s value per
square meter and a small photo of the property, along with a live image of the
building streamed through the phone’s camera
