Augmented Reality & Web Development

Augmented Reality (AR) is a buzz word that many people hear of and even use, but have very little notion as to what it really is. An example of augmented reality at work that many people take for granted is when during the broadcast of sports matches where the video is blended with images of the trajectory of a ball, basically AR involves the ‘mash up’ of real and imaginary objects in a single environment.

This element is also common in movies and advertising videos to make them more interesting. The concept of Augmented reality is actually not new and was actually introduced more than two decades ago and although it is often deemed as ‘complex technology’ the truth is that AR has actually become a significant part of life for almost everybody and more so for web developers.

For an extended period of time the numbers of developers who used or applied AR technology to Web Development were small, but about a decade ago, all that changed. Even small and medium enterprises were able to afford and use AR in their presentations (3D mode). This was directly attributed to the low cost of using AR. Examples of AR linked sites is SHOPIFY, the site is regarded as the first ever full-scale platform that has successfully managed to integrate AR with e-Commerce. Other sites have since been hot on the heels of Shopify as the conversion rates on Shopify is twice that of other sites in similar industries.

Web store owners may come to a point where they find the process of AR based setups quite challenging, nevertheless based on the level of conversion and ROI, incorporating AR into websites is a worthwhile initiative. Most current users tend to take the easy way out by paying for the ready-made packets by ordering individual AR solutions from web studios which costs much more in comparison to hiring a web developer to integrate the technology into the web page in a customised manner.

There are a multitude of IT firms that are examining AR technology from a variety of perspectives in combination with Virtual Reality technology and see how both may be combined and taken into a new and unique direction. It is quite evident that these two technologies combined will become a major trend in future based on the fact that Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon among other reputed firms are working extensively on the application of AR into their products and services. Augmented reality will undoubtedly be a common feature that would be a valuable addition to the multitude of existing web pages on the World Wide Web.

Simple examples of how this AR technology would be adding value to frameworks or potentially be a positive element towards systems includes how AR would be able to assist people learn on education sites exponentially and how it enables shoppers and potential buyers to be able to visualize objects that they intend to purchase from their homes whilst shopping online.