The Achilles' Heel(s) of Augmented Reality

Dearest Readers,

We find ourselves in yet another week of our exciting and thrilling coverage on the world of augmented reality (AR). Last week we presented some real world successes, that AR has indulged us with, from various industry perspectives. Our mission today is to build on those thoughts but point the binoculars in another direction. Todays we are setting sail to stumble across the Challenges that AR brings from a managerial perspective.

But before we go there, let's remind you of the greatness of AR with a neat little glimpse into the world of (Hyper)augmented reality: **** A MUST WATCH ***

http://player.vimeo.com/video/8569187

With that beautiful vision in mind....let's dive into the challenges:

Failure to Standardize (Walled Gardens)

Unsurprisingly we have a browser war in the AR space. Current leaders such as Wikitude, Layar and Acrossair are all proprietary in nature. The only way to use these is to download the application to one’s mobile phone. While there are attempts to bridge this (SGARView), the norm is that standards are not shared and manufacturers don’t play or talk with each other. Essentially everyone is playing in their own walled garden, which in the long run is a loosing proposition.

Hardware limitations

Thanks to the inaccuracy of GPS and compass data, we might find that a pop up label to the waterbay theatre is shown to be over hovering over the Bay Bridge. Furthermore, while applications can point the direction of a desired location, they do not take infrastructure into account. So don’t be surprised to find yourself against the wall of a dead end, while the phone shows you the desired direction as straight on.

Unauthorized Advertising

Marketing Agencies are most likely drooling over the thought of being able to yet another way to get its advertising to be seen by consumers. Monetizing physical spaces by placing ads on them, however, poses the question of physical and intellectual property right infringement. AR does not carry any controls to keep a tap of this, which could open the door to bucket loads of lawsuits.

Physical Danger

If you think that mobile phone poses a distraction while driving a car, then just imagine what an augmented windshield with its associated surroundings that may be needed, may impose. Or even better, consider walking across a busy road while you are trying to accurately pinpoint some newly searched restaurant, while tweets are flying in left and right, and ads are flooding the little remain space that is left.   

Dork Factor

Last but not least, we can’t underestimate the dork factor. Yes, google glasses manages to shift the focus from a handheld device to a more normally accepted pair of glasses, but google glasses will not be the norm for another several years. With the phone as the primary source of usage, it is not common to mistaken someone trying to utlize the full AR functionality by swinging his phone in all directions, with a Star Trek Fanatic trying to get a few intergalactic readings in. Tying in with the physical danger, it plain simply looks stupid to have the walking speed reduced to baby steps, while starring at the screen, or stumbling across every little curb that one comes across.

With the dork factor we conclude this week and put a seal on the challenges for now. Truth be told, the list is significantly longer and would require several posts. While the AR revolution is growing and showing an inevitable usage benefit in today’s world, it is nevertheless important to consider the challenges, especially from a managerial point of view when AR becomes part of the marketing plan.

See you next week when we see what the future of AR holds.

Stay augmented.

Team Orges.