Two years back, the entire world was obsessed with the game Pokemon Go. We all remember walking the roads, with our eyes glued to the screens, in anticipation of finding one of the many characters right outside our homes. The excitement, the engagement levels and even the levels of networking had gone up with this game.

In fact, for many businesses, Pokemon Go had suddenly become a marketing, development and even a success case study. What did Pokemon Go do? It just took a piece of the virtual environment, matched it with reality, and improved your vision of reality.

Pokemon Go was developed using the Augmented Reality technology. It is a belief that AR will improve the engagement levels, and enhance reality.

Pokemon Go was the first instance, where we saw the massive potential AR had. It was with HoloLens from Microsoft that the market for AR grew strong.

As a business, now is the time to venture in AR, and improve your chances of engaging people with your apps and software proficiency.

How AR Works?

As discussed earlier, AR is very different from VR. Augmented Reality enhances the real world and marks up with the virtual world for a better experience. The AR device works in tandem with the mobile apps you develop, which is generally the marker. This marker enables a 360-degree view of the object in concern.

Augmented Reality is moving beyond the horizons that have been currently explored, and disrupting how we consume technology, along the way. The focus for AR app development, for a long time, has been in the fashion and retail industry. The aim is to improve how we enhance the experience of the shoppers virtually, and help them make better choices at the end. The best part of exploiting this particular technology is that it does not require a huge infrastructure or a range of devices. It just needs a video capturing device and the lens that can ably convert the image into 360-degree visual. AR is all set to transform huge industries, and is not just limited to the gaming industry.

Industries AR Will Empower

• Augmented Reality apps in travel industry can offer real-life experience of the destinations the end user is planning to visit. The diving experience offered through AR can help the user make the decision. You can even take the real world experiences to the virtual world through AR, thus captivating them with your cruises and other real-world experiences.
• The real estate industry can supremely benefit with AR integrated to their technology-based solutions. You can take a virtual tour of the apartments, condos and other residential or commercial properties you are planning to invest in. You can experience the real-world image of these properties in 360-degree view
• The healthcare industry can benefit with AR. The AR will give virtual images of the internal organs, thus enabling them to get their surgeries right. The doctors would be able to identify the part of the organ that needs to be cut to make the surgery a success.
• For product-based companies, this works like a miracle, as it helps the companies give out a product demo in 360-degree view. This will help the end users understand the product completely. This is beneficial to the retailers such as Amazon, where the users want to know how the product looks from every angle.
• The fashion industry may benefit with the integration of AR in their otherwise normal looking virtual retail outlets. You can try the products virtually, and see if it looks good on you. You won’t need to leave your real environment for the virtual tour.

Things To Consider When Developing AR Apps

• Validate the idea: AR is still in the nascent stage, and it would save you a lot of efforts and cost if you can validate the idea before you proceed with it. Share your idea with the app developer and the person who will be handling the technology aspect. Make sure you sign an NDA before you go ahead with the concept. They might be able to tell you if the idea is good or you should shut down on the idea right away.
• For the market: It is important you design the AR solution for the target segment, you have painstakingly narrowed down to. Your AR solution should be need-based, which means, you ought to consider the need of the segment or, at least the need that you believe they might have, and narrow down your solution for the same. You can also use AR to bridge a gap that exists in the market.
• Design matters: The design should account for one-hand usage of the devices, specifically for the AR apps for Android.
• - For instance, if you are using the mobile device as the hardware connecting the user to the virtual world, then the app design should be such that it can be used via one hand.
• - The app design should not be altered irrespective of the size and orientation of the mobile device.
• - The existing interaction with the mobile device needs to be changed. The interaction should be more immersive in case of AR. You will need to design for the movement of the user.
• - The quality of the visuals should be accounted for in your design. Make sure you blend your AR solutions into the natural environment of the user for better visual experience
• - The digital components of the solution should be able to scale and react based on where the camera is pointing. When the user gets close to the digital components, more information can be displayed, indicating better experience. In case of characters, you can have the character pay close attention to the user, when they come nearer. The idea is to integrate the digital components to improve the immersive interaction levels.

• Start small: It is imporApproach the right people: The planning and listing out the features is not enough; you need to approach the right team if you want to make sure your app results into a success. You may want on-board the people who have experience of meting out solutions for the AR needs, and can work for your industry niche as well. Research is the key to getting the right people. tant to start with a MVP for your Android AR apps. You need to plan the right features, and make sure you don’t add them all at once. The MVP will help you with the basic features, which will initiate the experience you are planning to met out
• Approach the right people: The planning and listing out the features is not enough; you need to approach the right team if you want to make sure your app results into a success. You may want on-board the people who have experience of meting out solutions for the AR needs, and can work for your industry niche as well. Research is the key to getting the right people.

Conclusion

There are various tools and methodologies available to develop the AR app for your Android device. You may want to consider the gestures, app usage behavior and the device fragmentation when developing the solution for Android devices.

Coruscate has the right people, expertise in android app development and methodologies that can help recreate the real world in a virtual environment with AR-applications for Android. We have delivered successful AR apps to a range of industries, and each one has resulted in successful customers.

If you have a mobile application idea that fulfills a need or closes a gap, then connect with us. We will work from validating the idea to developing an effective solution.