Virtual reality / Augmented reality

A technology that is shaping the

customer
Shopping experience.

Ahmed Hany

Mohammed Ali

Supervised By:

PHD. Ossam Hanafi.

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Table of Contents

ABSTRACT................................................................................................................ 3
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 3
History Of Virtual Reality...................................................................................... 4
History of Augmented reality............................................................................... 6
Augmented Reality Dictionary: 5 Terms You Need to Know.....................................7
Digital marketing Megatrends 2017........................................................................8
The Technology behind AR and VR........................................................................11
Hardware:........................................................................................................... 11
Software............................................................................................................. 12
Challenges of VR and AR....................................................................................... 14
Benefits of AR / VR................................................................................................ 15
WHY AR and MR are the future of VR?..............................................................15
Using Augmented Reality in Marketing..................................................................17
Interactive Print.................................................................................................. 17
Augmented Commerce...................................................................................... 17
Marketing Benefits of Interactive Media................................................................18
10 Use cases of Augmented Reality in Marketing..............................................18
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................ 21
APENDIX 1................................................................................................................ 22
RACE.................................................................................................................. 22

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ABSTRACT
Although virtual reality (VR) technology has been available since the
1970s, it is becoming increasingly sophisticated and cost effective.
Architecture, education, medicine, electronic commerce, collaboration,
and data visualization are some of areas where VR is beginning to be
applied. Much of the reported research on VR is technological rather than
social, leaving only a limited understanding of its behavioral and
organizational impacts and its potential for novel situations. Immersion,
interactivity, and presence are intriguing concepts that emerged as
important to VR research, but are yet ill-dened. In this paper we present
the evolution of applied science of the virtual reality and augmented
reality in the eld of e-business ; and how the use of such technology is
creating an engaging and educational experience. We argue that in some
way the augmented reality came as a natural evolution of the virtual
reality based on the fact that human nature is in favor of being involved
with all senses rather than just a state of mind.

INTRODUCTION
The philosopher of science, Karl Popper, suggested that we think of
three worlds when we consider the spheres of human action: First
there is the physical world - the universe of physical objects . . . this I
will call Wodd 1. Second, there is the world of mental states; this I will
call World 2. But there is also a third such world, the world of the
contents of thought, and, indeed of the products of the human mind;
this I will call World 3

.. (Popper and Eccles, 1977, p. 38).

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 With VR [virtual reality], Poppers World 3 enters a new stage of
growth . . . For millennia, the communication medium of the body has
been an interface between World 1, physical nature, and World 2,
mental states .

With VR the growing environment of World 3 wraps around a body

designed for World 1 . . . The natural World 1 is mufed, the senses
immersed in the creations of our minds. A feedback loop is set up
between the changing mental states of World 2 and the sensory
experience of World 3 . . . How can we communicate most effectively
using VR interfaces? The best answer is: Were not sure, but well soon
nd out.

- Biocca and Levy [1995, pp. 18-19]

NASA denes VR as the use of computer technology to create the

effect of an interactive three-dimensional world in which the objects
have a sense of spatial presence. And the level of personalization and
immersion that VR provides makes it a great opportunity for brands to
engage with their tech-savvy audiences.

(https://www.nas.nasa.gov/Software/VWT/vr.html / accessed on April 17th

2017])

History Of Virtual Reality

Early attempts at virtual reality

Panoramic paintings
If we focus more strictly on the scope of virtual reality as a means of creating the
illusion that we are present somewhere we are not, then the earliest attempt at
virtual reality is surely the 360-degree murals (or panoramic paintings) from the
nineteenth century. These paintings were intended to fill the viewers entire field of
vision, making them feel present at some historical event or scene.

1838 : The stereoscope (Charles Wheatstone)

1849 : The lenticular stereoscope (David Brewster)

1939: The View-Master (William Gruber)

1929 Link Trainer The First Flight Simulator

1930s Science fiction story predicted VR

1950s Morton Heiligs Sensorama

In the mid-1950s cinematographer Morton Heilig developed the Sensorama
(patented 1962) which was an arcade-style theatre cabinet that would stimulate all

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the senses, not just sight and sound. It featured stereo speakers, a stereoscopic 3D
display, fans, smell generators and a vibrating chair.

1960 The first VR Head Mounted Display (HMD)

1961 Headsight First motion tracking HMD

1965 The Ultimate display by Ivan Sutherland

The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can
control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good
enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a
bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming such
a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked. Ivan
Sutherland

1968 Sword of Damocles

In 1968 Ivan Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull created the first VR / AR head
mounted display (Sword of Damocles) that was connected to a computer and not a
camera. It was a large and scary looking contraption that was too heavy for any
user to comfortably wear and was suspended from the ceiling (hence its name). The
user would also need to be strapped into the device. The computer generated
graphics were very primitive wireframe rooms and objects.

1969 Artificial Reality

Series of experiences which he termed artificial reality, in which he developed
computer-generated environments that responded to the people in it. This
technology enabled people to communicate with each other in a responsive
computer generated environment despite being miles apart.

1987 Virtual reality the name was born

1987 when Jaron Lanier, founder of the visual programming lab (VPL), coined (or
according to some popularised) the term virtual reality.

1991 Virtuality Group Arcade Machines

1992 The Lawnmower Man

1993 SEGA announce new VR glasses

1995 Nintendo Virtual Boy

1999 The Matrix

In 1999 the Wachowski siblings film The Matrix hits theatres. The film features
characters that are living in a fully simulated world, with many completely unaware
that they do not live in the real world

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Virtual reality in the 21st century
The first fifteen years of the 21st century has seen major, rapid advancement in the
development of virtual reality. Computer technology, especially small and powerful
mobile technologies, has exploded while prices are constantly driven down. The rise
of smartphones with high-density displays and 3D graphics capabilities has enabled
a generation of lightweight and practical virtual reality devices. The video game
industry has continued to drive the development of consumer virtual reality
unabated. Depth sensing cameras sensor suites, motion controllers and natural
human interfaces are already a part of daily human computing tasks.

(https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html /[accessed on April 17th 2017])

History of Augmented reality

1968 - Ivan Sutherland developed the first head-mounted display system.

The system used computer-generated graphics to show users simple wireframe
drawings.

1974 - Myron Krueger built an artificial reality' laboratory called the

Videoplace.
The Videoplace combined projectors with video cameras that emitted onscreen
silhouettes, surrounding users in an interactive environment.

1990 - Boeing researcher, Tom Caudell, coins the term Augmented

Reality".

1992 - Louis Rosenberg develops Virtual Fixtures

One of the earliest functioning AR systems. Built for the Air Force. The full upper-
body exoskeleton allowed the military to control virtually guided machinery to
perform tasks from a remote operating space.

1994 Dancing in Cyberspace

Julie Martin creates the first augmented reality Theater production, "Dancing in
Cyberspace, featuring acrobats who danced within and around virtual objects on
their physical stage.

1998 sportvision 1st & Ten Graphics

The 1st & Ten line computer system is broadcast by Sportvision, casting the first
virtual yellow first down marker during a live NFL game.
(http://www.sportvision.com/media/synthetic-video-0)

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1999 Army and NASA
Naval researchers begin working on Battlefield Augmented Reality System (BARS),
the robust, original model of early wearable units for soldiers.

The NASA X-38 spacecraft is flown using a Hybrid Synthetic Vision system that used
augmented reality to overlay map data to provide enhanced visual navigation
during flight tests.

2000 - ARToolKit
Hirokazu Kato created the ARToolKit, an open-source software library that uses video
tracking to overlay computer graphics on a video camera. The ARToolKit is still used
widely to compliment many augmented reality experiences.

2003 1st & Ten line with Skycam

For the 2003 NFL season, Sportvision unveils the first computer graphic system
capable of inserting the 1st & Ten line from the popular Skycam. The NFL's mobile
camera that provides the fields aerial perspective.

2009 Print media tries out AR for the first time

Esquire Magazine prompts readers to scan the cover to make Robert Downey Jr.
come alive on the page.

THE NOW AR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE MAKE THE LEAP TOWARDS

CONSUMER AUDIENDES.

2013 - Car manufacturers begin to use augmented reality as the new age
vehicle service manuals.
The Volkswagen MARTA app (Mobile Augmented Reality Technical
Assistance) provides virtual step-by-step repair assistance, allowing
service technicians to foresee how a repair process will look on the vehicle
in front of them.( http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tech-savvy-
mechanics-vws-new-tablet-app-gives-interactive-repair-instructions/
[ accessed on April 17th 2017])

2014
Google announces shipment of Google Glass devices for consumers, thus
starting the trend of wearable AR. Magic Leap announces the largest AR
investment to date of $50M. Series A.

2016
Microsoft HoloLens Developer Kit and the Meta 2 Developer Kit set to ship
this year.(http://www.augment.com/blog/infographic-lengthy-history-augmented-
reality/ [accessed on April 17th 2017])

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Augmented Reality Dictionary: 5 Terms You Need to Know
Augmented Commerce:

The buying and selling of goods online using augmented reality to

visualize products virtually in the real-world environment before
purchasing. Augmented commerce is the next evolution of ecommerce.
Shoppers can try products at home in life-like augmented reality before
buying through their device.

SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping):

A series of complex computations and algorithms to construct a map of an

unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of location in
the space. SLAM eliminates the need for trackers or markers to anchor a
product in augmented reality.

Depth Sensing Camera:

This denition comes thanks to 3DPrint.com. We found their denition to

be one of the best out there. They explain it as, A camera with depth
sensing capability can sense the time that it takes light to return from any
surrounding objects, combine it with video data and create real time 3D
images that can be used to track facial or hand movements, completely
map out a room or even remove or overlay 3D objects or backgrounds
from an image.

Depth sensing cameras are only available in a few mobile devices right
now like the Lenovo Phab 2 thanks to Google Tango. Apple is rumored to
be adding depth sensing cameras to their next release. The proliferation
of depth sensing cameras will allow for more advanced AR experiences

Diminished Reality:

Diminishes parts of the physical world by removing unwanted objects from

view. It is the opposite of augmented reality. AR enhances our physical
reality with digital assets, while diminished reality digitally removes
physical objects from our view.

Mediated Reality:

Alters our perception of reality by adding and removing information

through a device such as a headset or smartphone in real-time. In other
words, augmented reality plus diminished reality equals mediated reality.

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Mediated reality offers an improved visual experience, rather than just
using AR or DR alone.

(http://www.augment.com/blog/augmented-reality-dictionary/ [accessed on Apr. 17th

2017])

Virtual Reality:
Virtual reality (VR) is an articial, computer-generated simulation or
recreation of a real life environment or situation. It immerses the user by
making them feel like they are experiencing the simulated reality
rsthand, primarily by stimulating their vision and hearing.

Augmented Reality:
Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that layers computer-generated
enhancements atop an existing reality in order to make it more
meaningful through the ability to interact with it. AR is developed into
apps and used on mobile devices to blend digital components into the real
world in such a way that they enhance one another, but can also be told
apart easily.

Digital marketing Megatrends 2017

Customer behavior trends
Mobile marketing trends statistics ((Source: Smart Insights Mobile
Marketing Trends statistics compilation):
More than 50% of searches are on mobile
91% of Facebook usage (Daily Active users) is on mobile
80% of Facebook advertising revenue is on mobile
90% of mobile media time is spent in apps

Marketing technology trends

We see the biggest new trends in Martech surfacing in 2016 and
important into 2017 as applying machine learning or articial
intelligence including predictive analytics as described above. Plus,
there will be more consolidation as the marketing cloud vendors build
out their services and integrate different applications technology
better. Within marketing cloud solutions, there will be more emphasis
on a newer approach to consolidate customer data from different rst-
party and third-party sources across the customer lifecycle. Related to
this is exploiting this data through customer data platforms, predictive
analytics.

Trends in Marketing Techniques

At a top level, new digital marketing techniques are unlikely to evolve,
rather it is the new services from the platforms.

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 For each of these techniques, the megatrend cutting across all
of them is still mobile device adoption, but not simply Mobile
rst mobile device management.
Content marketing was again top in our members poll of
techniques which would make the biggest impact in the year
ahead.

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New platform marketing trends

consumers search through Google or Bing; use Facebook for catching
up socially and messaging; business communications through
Microsofts LinkedIn and use digital devices via Android or iOS. Since
these top-tier platforms marketing today are on these top-tier
platforms and other key platforms like Instagram, Whats App,
Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter.are looking to grow their audience
share and monetise their audiences, many of the most frequent
changes in digital

The latest Gartner 2016 Technology Hypecycle highlights many

innovations which the mega platforms like Google and Facebook, with
their mega budgets and research teams are working on integrating
into their services, for example, Augmented Reality, Cognitive Expert
Advisors (described above as AI Chatbots), Smart Data discovery (of
which Predictive Analytics is one approach) and IoT integration
including the Connected Home.

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The most emerging marketing trends:

General-Purpose Machine Intelligence

Ad Blocking
Customer Data Platforms
Real-Time Marketing [thats personalisation, not Real-time PR]
Personication
Programmatic TV Advertising
Cross-Device Identication
Virtual Personal Assistants
Programmatic Direct Advertising

Marketing Management trends

The main ongoing trend here is Digital Transformation which is the
integration of digital marketing activities and technologies into wider
marketing and business activities to create a digital business.

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Growth in Customer Data Platforms and Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics is well-established in has specialist applications

such as assessing credit risk and fraud in nancial services, but we
predict that its general use in marketing will increase as marketing
automation services move to more use of automated lead scoring and
grading based on algorithms rather than human-dened rules.

Mobile marketing and cross-device optimization

The core of mobile marketing is a mobile optimized website. The most

popular approach is a mobile responsive design (RWD)

Content and Inbound Marketing

Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, denes content
marketing as: How a brand creates, delivers and governs original or
curated content to attract and retain customers, positioning the brand
as a credible expert and, ultimately, motivating a change in behavior.
Content marketing is the fuel for all your core digital marketing
activities to engage and persuade your audience.

Digital Transformation
A staged change management program of business and revenue model
improvements to People, process and tools , used for integrated
digital marketing to maximize the potential business contribution of
digital technology and media to a business.

The Technology behind AR and VR

Hardware:

Head Mounted Display-HMDs:

VR headsets like Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR are often referred to
as HMDs, which simply means they are head mounted displays. Even
with no audio or hand tracking, holding up Google Cardboard to place
your smartphone's display in front of your face can be enough to get
you half-immersed in a virtual world.

VR headsets use either two feeds sent to one display or two LCD
displays, one per eye. There are also lenses which are placed between
your eyes and the pixels, which is why the devices are often called

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 goggles. In some instances, these can be adjusted to match the
distance between your eyes, varying from person to person.

These lenses focus and reshape the picture for each eye and create a
stereoscopic 3D image by angling the two 2D images to mimic how
each of our two eyes views the world ever-so-slightly differently. Try
closing one eye then the other to see individual objects dance about
from side to side and you get the idea behind this.

Head tracking
Head tracking means that when you wear a VR headset, the picture in
front of you shifts as you look up, down and side to side or angle your
head. A system called 6DoF (six degrees of freedom) plots your head in
terms of your X, Y and Z axis to measure head movements forward and
backwards, side to side and shoulder to shoulder, otherwise known as
pitch, yaw and roll. Head-tracking tech needs low latency to be
effective - we're talking 50 milliseconds or less or we will detect the
lag between when we turn our head and when the VR environment
changes

Motion tracking
For a while, we've seen the Leap Motion accessory - which uses an
infrared sensor to track hand movements - strapped to the front of
Oculus dev kits. We've also tried a few experiments with Kinect 2
cameras tracking our ailing bodies. But now we have exciting input
options from Oculus, Valve and Sony.

Eye tracking
Eye tracking is possibly the nal piece of the VR puzzle, an infrared
sensor monitor's your eyes inside the headset so FOVE knows where
your eyes are looking in virtual reality

Mobil phones
With 70% of mobile searching leading to an action in under an hour,
ecommerce sites should have a strategic plan to conquer this market
as well. If customers end up on an unresponsive site, 40% of them will
go to a competitor site. Taking action fast and using a responsive
design is vital and it will increase your sales.

Software

Open source
Argon, augmented reality browser by Georgia Tech's GVU Center
that uses a mix of KML and HTML/JavaScript/CSS to allow developing
AR applications; any web content (with appropriate meta-data and

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 properly formatted) can be converted into AR content; as of
November 2011, available for iPhone only.
ARToolKit, an open source (LGPLv3) C-library to create augmented
reality applications; was ported to many different languages and
platforms like Android, Flash or Silverlight; very widely used in
augmented reality related projects.
ArUco, a minimal library for augmented reality applications based on
OpenCV; licenses: BSD, Linux, Windows.
Augment, an augmented reality platform for tablets and
smartphones.
JavaCV, A Java/Android interface to OpenCV; licenses: GPLv2
ATOMIC Authoring Tool, a multi-platform authoring for creating AR
applications on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating
systems.
Goblin XNA, a platform for researching 3D user interfaces, including
mobile augmented reality and virtual reality, emphasizing games;
written in C#, based on Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0, BSD license.
GRATF, open-source (GPLv3) project, which includes C# library for
detection, recognition and 3D pose estimation of optical glyphs. The
project includes application, which does 2D and 3D augmented
reality.
mixare (mix Augmented Reality Engine), open-source (GPLv3)
augmented reality engine for Android and iPhone; works as an
autonomous application and for developing other implementations.
PTAM, non-commercial use only.
DroidAR, open source (dual-license: GPLv3 or commercial)
augmented reality framework for Android, featuring location-based
and marker based AR.
GeoAR, open source (Apache 2.0 License) browser for Android,
featuring location-based AR and a exible data source framework.
BeyondAR, open source (Apache 2.0 License) augmented reality
framework based on geo localisation for Android.
Mangan, open source (Mango License) augmented reality framework
based on Nano localisation for Android.
Vrui
ARma OpenCV-based minimal library for AR apps

AR development toolkits

Pikkart-AR SDK & ecosystem is an augmented reality SDK for mobile

platforms, which provides on-device image detection and tracking
methods, cloud recognition services and location-based markers,
integrating navigation services and augmented reality.

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 AR-Media SDK is an SDK by Inglobe Technologies which provides
Tracking and Rendering Modules that are based on a variety of
recognition and tracking methods, including 3D Object, Planar,
Location and Motion Tracking.
Kudan AR Engine is an AR SDK for iOS and Android devices.
Layar SDK is an augmented reality SDK for iOS and Android apps.
Catchoom CraftAR AR SDK is an iOS and Android SDK that renders
Augmented Reality experiences with plugins for Cordova and Unity.
Vuforia Augmented Reality SDK, formerly known as QCAR, is a
Software Development Kit for creating augmented reality
applications for mobile devices.
Wikitude SDK is an augmented reality SDK for mobile platforms
originated from the works on the Wikitude World Browser app by
Wikitude GmbH.The Wikitude SDK was the rst AR SDK providing a
JavaScript API to work with augmented reality experiences.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_augmented_reality_software /
[accessed on Apr. 18th 2017]).

Challenges of VR and AR
Costs:
The costs of virtual-store testing, both real and perceived, are
currently the single biggest barrier to entry.

Technical aspects:
Headsets still need hi-res displays to avoid the effect of looking
through a grid. Also what our eyes focus on needs to look as life-like
as possible. Without eye tracking, with everything in focus as you
move your eyes - but not your head - around a scene, simulation
sickness is more likely. Your brain knows that something doesn't
match up.

Project Management Issues:

Setting up a virtual test involves technological steps with which
some research professionals are simply inexperienced.

Lack of benchmarks:
The relative newness of the practice and some of the companies
providing it means that researchers don't have the wealth of
benchmarks and normative data with which they are accustomed.

Validity:
virtual store simulations mirror reality well enough to deliver
actionable insights, despite what in most cases is an admitted lack
of true scientic evidence.

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Questioning authority over place:
In addition to memorializing places or events, AR artists in our
study also attempted to bring in voices or perspectives to places
where they have been implicitly or explicitly excluded One example
of this is an intervention called Shades of Absence, by Tamiko Thiel,
which explores collecting and disseminating information on censored
and persecuted artists worldwide, and displays augmented shadows
and faces. One place where this layer was placed was the Venice
Biennial, a major contemporary art exhibition. Thiel explained her
motivation.

Rising up a question, what legalizations are there to protect

copyrights, and protect against unethical competition and behaviors.

Benets of AR / VR
Cost savings:
Although initial development of virtual testing environments adds
an additional layer of expenses onto a typical consumer research
project .

Flexibility:
Project-to-project comparisons don't tell the entire story, however,
because most practitioners cite the technologys facility in testing
multiple scenarios simultaneously, or its ability to easily alter test
stimuli, as a greater advantage than potential project-specic cost
savings.

Speed:
Although initial setup can take a few weeks longer than traditional
research methods (primarily due to the collection and processing of
product images and other required graphics), virtual tests are faster
in the long term, especially in comparison with eld tests.

Control:
Virtual simulations let researchers completely manipulate both the
environment and respondents interaction with it Weather, out of
stocks, competitive activity and other variables that can often affect
real-world tests are no longer factors unless they are designed to
be as part of the study.

New data streams:

Real-world testing of in-store marketing effectiveness has too many
obstacles expenses, uncontrollable variables and retailer
reticence, among others to be cost- effectively scalable. Similarly,
these limitations have made it almost impossible to conduct tests

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 for several specic retail accounts simultaneously. Virtual
simulations, therefore, can provide data that has been largely
unattainable, according to several practitioners.

Confidentiality:
Numerous practitioners point to the freedom they now have to
conduct store tests in anonymity, outside of the store and away from
the always vigilant eyes of competitors. They also note the ability to
avoid the potential embarrassment of failed in-store tests, which can
negatively affect relationships with retailers.

WHY AR and MR are the future of VR?

The rapid evolution of eCommerce has created a new sales channel
for retailers that are giving brick-and-mortar stores a run for their
money. Ninety-four percent of retail sales are still generated in
brick-and-mortar stores, but the growth of eCommerce sales aren't
far behind in their impact. eCommerce has been not only protable
for business but also convenient and pleasing for consumers. As of
mid-2016, eCommerce sales in the US totaled over $97 billion,
representing nearly 16% year- overyear growth, according to the
US Department of Commerce. Even within eCommerce, growing
mobile trends are shaping the approach of many retail merchants.
The lion's share of mCommerce (mobile commerce) growth stems
from smartphones, which nearly doubled in the US in 201 5 to
$39.40 billion - amounting to a 95.8% year-over-year increase.

Still the primary drawback to online shopping is that many of the

sensory elements that customers use to make their purchasing
decisions are often lost. When shopping online, a customer cannot
touch or feel an item, see how it works, or know how it will t in his
or her home. The loss of this interactivity and presence in the
shopping experience leads to uncertain buyers and more abandoned
carts. Thankfully, the growing presence of augmented reality in
retail cans potentially springboard retailers over these hurdles.
Although many brands believe that augmented reality is an
innovation of the future, it's providing businesses value right now.
Lets discover its applications and how forward-thinking retailers are
using AR to their advantage.

As mixed reality - virtual reality and augmented reality nd their

way into the mainstream, they are destined to dominate the future
of eCommerce. These interactive environments have brought a
sense of realism to online shopping. In a partnership with Australian
retailer Myer, eBay launched the rst virtual reality (VR) department

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 store in 2016. Shoppers can now look through thousands of Myer
products through their VR headset. .

Instead of using hand controllers, eBay users can select items using
only sight. The company has coined the term as "eBay Sight Search,"
which allows items to be chosen by holding your gaze on a product
for a few seconds. This is one of the earliest iterations of shopping
through VR. If not the rst implemented experience.

The integration of AR into eCommerce portals is quickly changing

how consumers shop by offering them a much more immersive and
personal experience. Before a consumer interacts with the actual
product, the online shopping experience inuences and dictates
buying decisions. Shopping online inevitably involves a bit of
guesswork from a consumer, which can lead to lost revenue through
increased return rates. In fact, according to research conducted by
the National Retail Federation. Merchandise returns in the US
represent nearly $260.5 billion of the retail market.

Augmented reality has limitless potential in the eCommerce space,

and top brands are nding innovative ways to leverage this
technology within their retail journey to accelerate the sales cycle.
Augmented reality mobile solutions like Augment are ushering in the
next evolution in experiential online shopping.

In conclusion; this level of intuitive interaction and familiarity

addresses the global concerns that all eCommerce retailers face,
such as abandoned shopping carts and low mobile conversions.

Using Augmented Reality in Marketing

Augmented Reality has greatly increased buyer engagement.
Engaging buyers and stimulating their senses through virtual
experiences in your real environment, in real-time. This technology
is cool, fun and is already creating waves in the millennials' minds. A
large number of industries are already tapping ARs power to
engage their customers. There are two ways to use augmented
reality in marketing: interactive print and augmented commerce.

Interactive Print
AR makes it possible to layer interactive, digital components atop a
real life environment. For example, AR-powered apps like Augment
allow users to scan an image on a page, screen, or package with
their smartphone, and an interactive, associated 3D model will pop
up and hover over the printed media. The interaction with these

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 augmented trackers can easily become addictive, Interactive
campaigns are designed to respond to user interactions and add
depth to any experience.

Augmented Commerce
Augmented Commerce is set to engage millennial buyers by allowing
them to see virtual products in their physical space before they
purchase, all through AR. Without even leaving their houses, the
buyers can virtually try and experience the products they're looking
to buy. AR is a tool that will make the buyers journey much more
captivating consumers.

Marketing Benets of Interactive Media

Brand recognition and interaction
Interactive media helps you grow your market presence through
emphasized brand recognition and customer loyalty.

Omnichannel experience
Connecting offline and online platforms is a major focus for brands
and retailers in today's climate. With AR, shop at home like you

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 would in-store, and shop in-store with the same perks you'll nd
online.

Increased ROI
Boost prots and ROI through increased customer engagement.
Implementing augmented reality in the eCommerce experience helps
shoppers nd a better familiarity with products.

Improved marketing materials and strategies

You can learn, adjust, and improve based on meaningful
interactions your customers are experiencing with your current
campaigns.

Measurable analytics for growth

Analyzing the success of your marketing materials, campaigns, and
customer interactions can help you scale your business successfully,
and continue to grow your prots. It's very important that you track
the results of your interactive media campaigns just as you would
any other marketing efforts.

10 Use cases of Augmented Reality in Marketing

2014 IKEA catalog:

IKEA operates in an industry which stands to be the most beneted
by AR applications. Often, when we purchase furniture and other
home accessories either online or in brick-and-mortar shops but we
struggle to envision how it would look or t in our actual home.
Despite dimensions and product estimations, the uncertainty in your
buying decision is troubling for consumers and costly for retailers.

IKEA launched an AR app, aided by a product catalog to solve this

problem. They use augmented reality to place virtual furniture in
your home. You can unlock this feature by scanning selected pages
of the catalog or browsing them in the digital format on your tablet
or smartphone. Then, place the catalog where you wish to place the
furniture, select the appropriate product in the app and modify its
color and size to see what best ts your space.

Siemens
Siemens is a global technology company and Europes largest
electronics and Electrical Engineering Company. Due to the
underlying complexity of many of these products, the advertising
booths in tradeshows failed to convey the technical aspects.

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 Siemens then turned to Augment to make their brochures and
displays more lively through augmented reality. In their current AR-
aided product demonstrations, users can scan Siemens brochures to
simulate a virtual model of their new Acvatix product line with
detailed technical specications. To better showcase in detail its
range of high-quality magnetic valves at tradeshows, Siemens
enhances their marketing materials with Augment.

BiC kid Drawybook:

BiC kid caters to the child development market. They capitalized an
opportunity when realizing how kids have actively turned to digital
devices such as tablets for creative inspiration.

To this end, BiC launched a drawing book called the Drawybook.

Children were required to color the images as required. The
completed drawings can come to life through AR when scanned
through the app BiC released along with the Drawybook. These
drawings then became a part of interactive story series and mini-
games which could be played by the kids. BiCs interactive
educational initiative saw a huge return with their mobile
augmented reality campaign.

Topshop Kinect dressing rooms:

For many shoppers, trying on clothes is a big hassle. At the same
time, they want to be pretty sure the apparels suit them.Topshop
aims to solve this problem with its virtual dressing room. They built
a kiosk that displays the image of the person using a built-in camera
and overlays the selected dresses on their bodies. Also, the person
can change dresses using simple gestures as waving in the air.
Topshops installment is one of the rst live-activation uses of
augmented reality, of recent.

Tesco Home Book:

Much like the IKEA catalogs, Tesco also made an attempt to layer
their catalogs with as much information and interactivity as
possible.

Tescos Home Book is more than an envisioning medium. Tesco

attempts to bring the store right to your smartphone/tablet. The
front cover is interactive and displays info on the objects, including
price. In the kids section, Tesco incorporates more of entertainment
AR experience where kids can see the 3D toys playing and rockets
ying. There is also a cushion and artwork visualizer, all with a price
tag hanging on them, as in actual stores.

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IBM In-Store AR shopping app:
Another marvellous application of AR in retail, IBM utilized the fact
that most consumers in a supermarket prefer to have more
information while purchasing products.

IBM built an app that allows shoppers to browse through products in

a store and use augmented reality to display product information
such as nutritional value(in the case of food), incentives and even
loyalty points. Through an AR experience, IBMs app can also rank
products based on some criteria set by the user, such as low sugar
and high ratings. When the user points the camera towards a shelf
of cereals, the app will identify the products that meet the standards
and display them to the user.

Northern Lighting brochure:

Northern Lighting specializes in making premium lighting products.
They utilized Augments AR applications to turn their 2d brochures
into an interactive campaign where shoppers could scan it to launch
lifelike Northern Lighting products that they could try at home. Also,
the app has direct access to Northerns Lighting mobile shop via the
app, making it a truly omnichannel shopping experience.

Zombies in Vienna:
A rst of its kind, this AR marketing technique was used by TV
network Sky Austria to promote the season premiere of the famous
zombie show, The Walking dead. In collaboration with out-of-home
ad rm Gewista, the project converted a public Vienna tram stop
into the Scary Shelter, a digital signage campaign using
augmented reality.

The installation combined zombie footage shot for the campaign,

layered overtop a real-time feed of the Vienna streetscape,
surprising people waiting for trams and allowing passersby to get
involved in the screamfest.

Lufthansa Premium Economy seats:

In a move to promote their premium economy seats with 50% more
leg space, Lufthansa created an AR app for a demo that would show
information about the new plane cabin.

To open the app, you are asked to grab a pen and paper and draw
anything that can y. When you scan this image with the app, you
are shown a 3d model of the new premium economy chair. Here, you
can see the different features of the chair and even understand what
the new space amounts to, such as how many cricket balls can be
lled in the extra space. Lufthansa attempted to create an engaging

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 experience for potential clients from the very start of their
augmented reality campaign.

Dulux AR:
With an AR powered app that can refurbish and redecorate your
home, Dulux addresses the issues of visualization that many
customers face in home furnishing. By pointing the app towards the
walls, the users can re-color the room in real-time. You can also
choose color schemes and take screenshots that you like and share
them. Additionally, the app boasts of e-commerce capabilities. You
can see the nearest Dulux stores, browse through educational
content and order paint testers online. Dulux claims to be the rst to
provide an AR tool to customers in the paint industry.

There are numerous innovative use cases, especially in retail and

ecommerce. Companies have been anxious to pursue extremely
innovative measures to enhance interaction with potential
customers. AR is helping to bridge the gap between consumers and
online & offline retail commerce. As a customer, there cannot be a
more exciting time to witness this transition in the commerce
industry.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The use of computer-driven store simulation technologies to
conduct market research and achieve other key business
objectives is fast becoming a common practice among
consumer product manufacturers and retailers.
If conducted properly, virtual store tests can deliver a more
accurate representation of at-shelf product selection and
other shopping behaviors than traditional methods of
consumer research and a faster, more cost-efcient alternative
to in-store eld tests.
While startup costs for building whole-store environments and
establishing internal capabilities can be signicant, the use of
virtual store simulations delivers a wide variety of business
benets that practitioners say more than justify the expense.
The goals of such initiatives go well beyond pure research to
encompass effective internal planning and collaboration and
the fostering of stronger relationships with key industry
partners.

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 Judged in the context of shopper marketing, virtual store
simulations can be an indispensable tool for understanding in-
store behavior and designing stores and merchandising
programs that truly meet the needs of consumers.

APENDIX 1

A marketing research tool.

RACE

Consists of these four steps or online marketing activities designed to

help brands engage their customers throughout the customer lifecycle.

1. REACH. Reach involves building awareness of a brand, its products

and services on other websites and in offline media in order to build
traffic by driving visits to different web presences like your main site,
microsites or social media pages. It involves maximizing reach over
time to create multiple interactions using different paid, owned and
earned media touchpoints.

2 ACT. Act is short for Interact. It's a separate stage since encouraging
interactions on websites and in social media to generate leads is a big
challenge for online marketers. It's about persuading site visitors or
prospects take the next step, the next Action on their journey when
they initially reach your site or social network presence. For many
types of businesses, especially, Business-to-Business, this means
generating leads, but it may mean nding out more about a company or

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 its products, searching to nd a product or reading a blog post. You
should dene these actions as top-level goals of the funnel in analytics.
Google Analytics Goals can include "Viewed product", "Added to
Basket", "Registered as member" or "Signed up for an e-newsletter. Act
is also about encouraging participation. This can be sharing of content
via social media or customer reviews (strictly, part of Engage).The
specic goals and dashboard need to be dened for each business as
explained in our Delivering results from digital marketing guide. It's
about engaging the audience through relevant, compelling content and
clear navigation pathways so that they don't hit the back button. The
bounce rates on many sites is greater than 50%, so getting the
audience to act or participate is a major challenge which is why we
have identied it separately.

3. CONVERT. This is conversion to sale. It involves getting your

audience to take that vital next step which turns them into paying
customers whether the payment is taken through online Ecommerce
transactions, or offline channels.

4. ENGAGE. This is long-term engagement that is, developing a long-

term relationship with rst-time buyers to build customer loyalty as
repeat purchases using communications on your site, social presence,
email and direct interactions to boost customer lifetime value. It can be
measured by repeat actions such as repeat sale and sharing content
through social media. We also need to measure percentage of active
customers (or email subscribers) and customer satisfaction and
recommendation using other systems.

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