One of the biggest prospect of AR is revolutionizing communication with holograms. Microsoft is currently implementing the technology that allows conferencing with the use of holograms. That would improve the quality of communication between coworkers and make business meeting more effective when not all the colleagues are physically present in the meeting room.
References
AUGMENTED REALITY BUS 237 ONLINE REPORT
"Promise of AR" by Inderpal Toor, Isabelle Joaquin, Pavel Orsher, Zeng Zhi.
Example of AR office (Microsoft)
HOW DOES AR DELIVER VALUE FOR BUSINESSES?
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Currently, large companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Google make aggressive bets into Augmented reality market. Usually, when new a technology comes in, it tends to rob people of their work places. However, in this case, AR strifes to extend the worker's capabilities.
Actual AR devices used in industrial complex (DAQRI)
Worker performing an airplane repair (DAQRI)
Another place where AR could bring a substantial value is telecommunications. By introducing holographic communication, AR would allow to actually see the person you are talking to in a full scale even if he is not present in the meeting, for example. This would add an extra level to they way people do business at a distance. In addition, people in the office will have a benefit of sharing their vision directly by pushing their designs into the visual vield of others.
Because of the capability of AR to enchance everyones personal ability, there is a high chance of it eliminating the entire personal computing market as we know it.
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Industrial AR presentation (DAQRI)
LIMITATIONS
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Currently AR facing a number of challenges to successfully invade the majority of the work places. It mostly comes down to the raw state of the technology at the moment, which has the following disadvantages:
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Buggy software, that could be unreliable
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Small field of view
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Heavy on the nose, too much so for comfortable work day
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The glasses get hot
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Low detail and focus when looking at holograms up close
These are minor problems and would like be resolved short-term. In addition, there are still questions related to the cost of implementation and an actual increase in performance. For example, the costs of implementation are not yet clear, however, it would require a personal training for the use of AR, siginificant changes to the infrastructure of the company and investment into acquiring new assets.
SOME CURRENT IMPLEMENTATIONS OF AR IN BUISNESS​
In the consumer space AR is already being actively implemented by various businesses. For example, a company called VuildUs, provides a home interior and furnishing solution for companies through the use of AR. The customer is able to see a preview of the furniture in the desired space, eliminating painstaking dimensioning and sketching when developing a work or living space.
AR furnishing
FUTURE OF AR IN BUSINESS
AR could drastically change the landscape of the business environment in the next 5 to 10 years, here are just a few examples:
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Completely replaces monitors and personal computers in the majority of business environments
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Becomes primary communication tool, replaces smartphone
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Pushes text messages into your field of view
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Helps to share your designs and ideas
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Helps you remember things, freeing your cognitive load by, for example, showing you public information next to an actual person you are speaking to, such as, full name, CV, current position, telephone number.
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AR contact lenses instead of glasses
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Future of home entertainment and as a result new market for entertainment buisness
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New work opportunities for people with disabilities
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Microsoft demonstrating holographic communication. The man on the right is a hologram. (Microsoft)
http://www.itworldcanada.com/blog/augmented-reality-games-not-just-for-teenagers/384967
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9245-augmented-reality-for-business.html
http://www.livescience.com/34843-augmented-reality.html
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9245-augmented-reality-for-business.html
http://www.augment.com/blog/infographic-lengthy-history-augmented-reality/
WHAT IS AUGMENTED REALITY?
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Augmented reality is a device that projects virtual holograms into the field of view of the user. AR eliminates the need for any input devices such as touch screens, keyboards or laptops. In Augmented Reality you could just project a computer display or a 3D projection into your field of view and interact with it with your hands anywhere and not being bound to a chair, specific posture or environment. You can change the size of the projected holograms, just as you would when you are resizing windows on your desktop.
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The first place AR is going to get big in is in the industrial space. The consumer market is a harder sell then the industrial because you have to worry about fashion or pricing, for example. By focusing on industrial segment, it eliminates barriers for AR technology such as fashion, which was one of the major obstacles for Google Glass, a product that was oriented at a consumer market and ended up being a flop. Instead, AR focuses on making the company more productive, by augmenting its workers. This technology delivers extremely effective knowledge transfer, step by step work instructions, data visualization right where decision making is happening. For example, in airplane manufacturing, mechanics need to know over 600 parts during production. By introducing AR to their work space, their cognitive load is decreased as the computer takes over this task by highlighting parts relative to their current manufacturing step. It gives visual cues, real time analytics, which helps to understand what needs to be done next.
Because of the capability of AR to enchance everyones personal ability, there is a high chance of it eliminating the entire personal computing market as we know it.
Sharing in AR (Microsoft)