We are approaching a new digital age. Everything around us is growing, changing, and evolving at rates which we have never seen before. It seems like it’s every quarter that big tech announces new developments, features, and improvements to just about everything that occupies our daily lives. From the new Tesla truck with bullet proof windows, a towing capacity of over 14,000 pounds, and 500 miles to the tank, to the Magic Leap One spatial computer that allows you to interact with digital content in the world around you, there is no shortage of innovation.
One startup, Mojo Vision, is focused on invisible computing. A term referring to “an emerging field based on the concepts of context awareness and the mining of data coming from myriad sensors and devices” to push the boundaries of not only spatial computing, but overall human interaction with digital content. This allows for access to relevant content in real-time, wherever we go, and without relying on any type of handheld device. Handhelds will quickly become a thing of the past as innovation in mixed reality continues to grow. We are seeing evidence of this with Big Tech’s contribution to both hardware and software development encompassing technology like ARkit 3.0, Lenses, wearables and AR ready cameras. There is certainly no lack of effort by any of the blue-chip stocks to be the first to dominate mixed realities 60B market. Companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon missed the mark on mobile, and are now fighting to bring about the end of the smartphone era.
With all these changes, what will the global impact on every day society and consumerization look like? And, how will this impact the future of marketing communications? It’s important to remember that technological trends like this elevate human communication and create significant opportunities for marketers to better interact and reach their target audience. For example, today’s consumers are looking for deeper engagement when shopping online. Being fully immersed in the brands experience is a requirement for any successful campaign, along with a few other factors. It’s one of the main reasons traditional marketing channels are taking a significant hit. Declining click through rates, oversaturation of traditional advertisement mediums, and consumer cynicism with sponsor adds will continue to grow unless the method of communication evolves, and changes with this new shift in consumerization.
One of the leading factors in this change, is the rate at which we consume content. If you think about the shelf life of any type of content, it’s shrinking. This is true for all types of media across every platform, and for this reason the content we put out must be frequent, of quality, and most importantly, engaging. In an environment of micro moments, moments where the consumers attention is spread across multiple tasks, we need to be extra captivating. What better way to capture one’s attention through all the noise than with a mixed reality experience? With the recent advancements in; computer vision technology, sensors, and the corresponding software to support intuitive creation, it has never been easier for organizations to explore, and develop a mixed reality content strategy.
Today, consumers are 11 times more likely to purchase when offered an immersive shopping experience and four times more likely to turn into repeat buyers. With these types of conversion improvements, it’s no wonder we’re seeing organizations like Ikea, Houzz, and Home Depot encompassing AR in their digital marketing strategy and investing significantly in mixed reality content.
Augmented Reality is maturing, and the good news is - any business whether large or small can now benefit from some of its advantages. Take Vew Inc as an example, an iOS-based application that allows users to create, manage and publish AR content. Just by downloading the application, submitting some photos of your item, and providing some real-time feedback, you can have an AR experience created for you in just a few days that you can embed directly on your website. All this without signing any agency contracts or commitments, and most importantly, without having to allocate any resources, and turn this into a project. You can download our application here to get started.
To lead the way in this new environment marketers around the world should anticipate these changes, and adapt in order to have the opportunity to pioneer, and make a difference with their marketing communication. Today, this difference can be made through immersive commerce.