Augmented reality has been making waves in a number of industries including healthcare, events and sports. AR has been pivotal in aiding business in times of crisis like during the COVID-19 lockdown – allowing them to view the physical world in video and annotate objects and such other features during video calls. But, it’s post COVID that AR is expected to really take off and make a difference. It is expected that the AR market would jump past $50 billion by 2024 – but with the pandemic accelerating interest in augmented and virtual related technologies, this figure will keep rising.
Healthcare
This year, the healthcare sector saw a rise in the use of Augmented Reality especially doctors treating the COVID-19 patients. AR in the healthcare sector is experiencing a wider appeal. Doctors can enter the MRI data and CT scans into an AR headset and precisely study patient’s anatomy even before they enter into surgery. Recently, BBC news also reported on the development of a hologram that visualises the heart. It was estimated that the market for AR in healthcare is to reach $11.14 billion by 2025. So, AR in the healthcare sector will definitely be revolutionary and will aid surgeons in the operation theatre as well as help medical students learn more about the human body.
Events
Marketing people are always struggling to find new ways to draw attention of their customers. AR can create new and engaging ways to enable businesses to interact with people. Over 87% of event planners use some sort of AR in their events. Previously, AR has always been an ‘interesting’ part of an event where the AR part acts complementary to the physical event. Today AR can replace them too. While virtual events sounded like a gimmick earlier, today, during COVID-19, we see it to be a reality. AR events have a far greater audience reach for attendees, greater cost efficiency and higher and more measurable engagement rates.
Sports
Augmented Reality is rapidly gaining traction in the world of sports. From improvements to broadcasting to enhancing fan experiences, billions today have access to AR enabled smartphones. AR apps also integrate with SnapChat, Facebook and Instagram and can be used to reach a greater audience. AR has also made it’s entry into the sports and gaming sector. For example, iGYM was created by a team of researchers and they have created a projection based AR sports game which allows children with varying abilities to play with each other in a fair environment. This system works by utilizing an overhead projector to create an AR court which mimics a football field. It creates an engaging experience for the players.
Travel and Tourism
It’s a fact that the travel and tourism industry has taken a direct hit from COVID 19 and it is evident that technology innovations can help the sector bounce back by providing an incredible immersive experience. AR helps adventuring across beautiful landscapes even more interactive with the user’s phone and camera recognizing the names of mountains, hills and rivers and showing customers the best routes. Restaurants port COVID too will need to find new ways to engage customers as the physical contact of menus and staff will be limited.
Real Estate
AR technology is perfectly positioned to serve the real estate market. AR platforms can create custom made experiences to help customers experience the property they are interested in. Geo-location based AR solution combines geospatial positioning and markerless AR to real estate agents to advertise their properties in innovative ways.
When there are limitations people get creative. When there are boundaries, it’s time to unlock your imagination and create something innovative! COVID-19 has unlocked the possibilities that AR could offer in various industrial sectors and these trends will continue post covid too!
