Overview

Say hello to the final part of our 2023 design trends series; this time, we’ll focus on augmented reality (AR). Much like AI, this trending tech topic is another word on many people’s lips as its capabilities evolve and its uses become more widespread. In case you missed the other two pieces in this series, go and check out our Artificial Intelligence and Accessibility & Inclusivity pieces too!

Read on to learn more about AR and what Mindera is doing in this space.

Augmented Reality Trends

Maybe you’re thinking, “I’m not quite certain what AR is…” Well, don’t worry.

In short, AR is a pretty popular piece of tech right now; it adds digital info or virtual objects to real-life situations; you can then see and interact with these through devices like your phone. This is especially popular in virtual try-ons of clothing or seeing how a new piece of furniture would look in your space. It’s great for the user as it helps visualise the product; it can reduce those painful product returns and the refund wait period when you’re happy with the item from the get-go.

AR rose in popularity during the pandemic when many physical stores had to shut down; it was super valuable to have virtual try-ons and furniture displays during this time.

In 2023, interactive product visualisation is undoubtedly be on the rise.

Designers have implemented AR to let users see and realistically interact with products. Virtually placing furniture in your living room is a great way to find things that match your unique tastes and style with minimal effort! Why not make the user experience as easy, informed, and time-saving as possible?

Mindera & AR

We’ve been working on some interesting internal projects that utilise AR.

Here’s a look at one

Ever wanted to immerse yourself inside a casino where you can play your favourite games but don't feel like getting out of your home? Or maybe you'd rather bring the casino and its machines to your living room, deciding where they could be placed?

Leveraging the latest in WebXR, our project allows a player to move along the virtual-reality continuum that mixed reality allows. You can go full VR and bring yourself to a purely virtual 3D world, or you can choose AR, where only the machine cabinets are placed in your location, virtually, wherever you would like. Use your phone or a dedicated mixed-reality headset!

Games can be controlled by mouse/keyboard or by directly interacting with the virtual buttons and levers of the 3D gaming cabinets. The games you see on the cabinet screens are real, web-based casino games you are used to playing in your favourite virtual casinos.

Tech Lead, João Jacob, noted that:

“Augmented Reality has been slowly climbing the “Slope of Enlightenment” of Gartner’s hype cycle. From its early use in niche sectors (particularly military), it is now finding its way to businesses and consumers. Augmented Reality in our mobile phones is only scratching the surface of what it can offer (remember the craze with Pokemon Go?). Hardware solutions like the older Hololens and the soon-to-be Apple Vision Pro show how Augmented Reality (or Mixed Reality in some cases) can be applied for entertainment and for unlocking new workflows.”

Final Thoughts

That’s a wrap for our 2023 design trend series; who knows, maybe we’ll start something similar in 2024! With the rate at which tech is evolving and developing, we’re sure there will be even more exciting things to discuss next year regarding how businesses can utilise these emerging technologies.

In this part of our series, we gave some insights into the uses of AR in retail, especially concerning the growing trends in virtual try-ons in the FashionTech space, as well as virtual furniture placement. Enabling customers to truly visualise the product they are considering can really help create a seamless user experience.

We also touched on an internal casino project we’re working on in Mindera that utilises mixed reality technology!

What AR trends have you seen this year?

Get in touch if we can help you on your digital product journey.