Introduction

The rapid advancement of Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies has transformed how businesses operate, innovate, and interact with their customers. At the forefront of this revolution, we have consistently pushed the boundaries of what’s possible, delivering transformative experiences across various platforms, such as Microsoft HoloLens, Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Apple Vision Pro, and Meta Quest.

This blog explores our journey through these cutting-edge platforms, highlights our key projects, and examines the future potential of AR/VR/MR technologies in business.

A Legacy of Innovation Across Platforms

Oculus Rift & HTC Vive: Interactive Showrooms and Custom Spaces

Our ventures into VR with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive led to the development of virtual car showrooms where users could interact with vehicles—opening doors, examining engines, and playing music. Similarly, a VR experience for HTC Vive enabled users to choose paint colors and textures to redecorate virtual rooms, emphasizing realism and interactivity, two core elements of our VR experiences. 

Microsoft HoloLens: Hands-Free Innovation

For Microsoft HoloLens, we developed a proof of concept (POC) featuring voice-controlled interfaces. Users could give voice commands to play specific animations, demonstrating the potential of hands-free interaction and laying the groundwork for intuitive interfaces that enhance user experience.

Google Cardboard: Real Estate Reimagined

In the real estate industry, our project with Google Cardboard allowed users to explore virtual house interiors, edit walls, change interior paint, and move objects in a 3D space. This innovative solution simplified home-buying by offering real-time customization and immersive visualization.

Industrial Training Simulations: Safety and Efficiency

We developed a VR training simulation for industrial environments. This simulation uses virtual boilers and valves and guides employees through handling fire hazards step-by-step. This risk-free, step-by-step training improves safety and efficiency in industrial operations.

Virtual Store: Redefining Retail

Our virtual store project created a fully immersive 3D shopping environment. This VR shopping experience showcased intuitive navigation and engaging interfaces, paving the way for future retail innovations.

The Apple Vision Pro: A New Frontier for Gaming

Mixed Reality Casino: A Flagship Project

One of our most exciting projects for the Apple Vision Pro is a Mixed-Reality Poker game in a virtual casino. This isn’t just a game—it’s a casino experience, blending AR and VR modes to adapt to the user’s environment.

Key Features

• Physical Interactions: Players can pick up and examine cards, stack chips, and discreetly peek at their cards.
• Flexible Modes: Players can switch between AR and VR modes with a tap, allowing them to choose their immersion level.
• Dynamic Environments: The virtual casino adapts to the player’s surroundings, enhancing immersion.

Future Expansion

We’re working on expanding this casino experience with games like craps, blackjack, and slot machines, each featuring intuitive controls and realistic interactions, creating a comprehensive casino ecosystem.

Empowering Businesses with Immersive Solutions

Beyond gaming, our expertise in AR, VR, and MR technologies helps businesses innovate and streamline their operations.

Training Simulations

Our VR training modules offer employees a safe, cost-effective way to master complex tasks. From factory workers to healthcare professionals, our simulations provide step-by-step guidance in a risk-free environment. 

Virtual Prototyping

We help businesses reduce development costs and accelerate time to market by using AR/VR-powered design and testing tools, which enable rapid iteration and real-time feedback.

Remote Collaboration

Our AR-powered remote support and virtual meetings enable real-time collaboration across teams, regardless of location, enhancing productivity and fostering innovation.

Challenges in AR/VR Adoption

Cost and Infrastructure

• High Initial Investment: AR/VR technologies require significant upfront investment in hardware, software, and infrastructure, which can hinder SMEs.
• Solution: Our flexible pricing models and cloud-based solutions minimize upfront costs, making AR/VR accessible to businesses at different growth stages.

Technology Limitations

• User Comfort and Motion Sickness: VR can cause discomfort or motion sickness, while AR glasses may be bulky.
• Solution: Our products prioritize ergonomic design, lightweight materials, and motion-smoothing software to enhance user comfort.
• Limited Content: The perceived lack of tailored content can deter businesses.
• Solution: We offer a library of customizable templates and industry-specific applications, reducing development time and cost.

Scalability

Scaling AR/VR solutions for enterprise use involves addressing infrastructure, user training, and content adaptation challenges. Our scalable solutions ensure businesses can grow their AR/VR initiatives without significant hurdles.

The Future of AR/VR in Business

Emerging Trends

• Growth Potential: AR/VR technologies are poised to revolutionize industries from healthcare and education to retail and manufacturing.
• Company Vision: We are committed to pushing the boundaries of AR/VR/MR, creating solutions that inspire, engage, and empower.

Conclusion

As AR and VR technologies evolve, their impact on business operations will grow. Businesses that integrate these technologies today can expect efficiency, customer satisfaction, and long-term profitability improvements. Our solutions are designed to help enterprises leverage the power of AR and VR to stay competitive in an increasingly digital world.

How can [x]cube LABS Help?

[x]cube LABS’s teams of product owners and experts have worked with global brands such as Panini, Mann+Hummel, tradeMONSTER, and others to deliver over 950 successful digital products, resulting in the creation of new digital revenue lines and entirely new businesses. With over 30 global product design and development awards, [x]cube LABS has established itself among global enterprises’ top digital transformation partners.

Why work with [x]cube LABS?

• Founder-led engineering teams:

Our co-founders and tech architects are deeply involved in projects and are unafraid to get their hands dirty. 

• Deep technical leadership:

Our tech leaders have spent decades solving complex technical problems. Having them on your project is like instantly plugging into thousands of person-hours of real-life experience.

• Stringent induction and training:

We are obsessed with crafting top-quality products. We hire only the best hands-on talent. We train them like Navy Seals to meet our standards of software craftsmanship.

• Next-gen processes and tools:

Eye on the puck. We constantly research and stay up-to-speed with the best technology has to offer. 

• DevOps excellence:

Our CI/CD tools ensure strict quality checks to ensure the code in your project is top-notch.

Contact us to discuss your digital innovation plans. Our experts would be happy to schedule a free consultation.

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Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) have come a long way from being immature technologies to creating a massive impact completely. With over 8.9 million AR/VR headsets sold in 2019 and AR enabled smartphones, it can be seen that consumers are acknowledging these technologies. These groundbreaking technologies are also referred together as Extended reality (XR) due to the similar nature of use and functionality.

Retail is one of the most competitive fields of the economy. It is common knowledge that no matter how niche your market might be – you have to fight for the place under the sun, you have to persuade customers. That makes retail businesses particularly interested in finding new and more elaborate ways of engaging customers and establishing new brands.

• Lowe’s, a major North American retailer of home improvement goods, has dreamt up an interesting in-store use of VR. Using an HTC Vive and a specially made controller, the ‘Holoroom Test Drive’ allows anyone timid around power tools to put on a VR headset to learn how to use the tools in a safe virtual space.
• Ikea came up with the Ikea Place ARKit app, which avails users a 3D preview of the chosen furniture at the desired spot in their homes/offices. The users can look for the fit and preferences in the furniture items.
• Topshop, for instance, partnered with AR Door and used Kinect motion sensing technology to create a virtual fitting room for customers in their Moscow store. By standing in front of the camera, customers were able to see how clothing items looked on their bodies without physically trying anything on.

The key challenge is developing software that works with AR/VR devices for these specific use cases. According to a Goldman Sachs report, AR/VR retail software revenue is expected to reach $1.6 billion by 2025.  

Retailers can use this technology to fundamentally change the way consumers shop, creating deeper engagement, increasing customer delight and efficiency to drive sales and maximize ROI.

Retailers must also anticipate the changes in consumer behavior due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic globally. While consumers are largely dependent on CPG manufacturers and retailers for a constant supply of essential goods, retailers are facing a tough time catering to the surge in demand while keeping up to safety standards and living up to customer expectations. On the other hand, retailers that cater to durables have temporarily closed their brick and mortar establishments and are continuing to engage customers on various online platforms and through other initiatives.

Now, more than ever digital transformation will play a critical role for retailers. Implementation of AR & VR in retail helps retailers and consumers alike have a better shopping experience while reducing operating costs of retailers and offering an immersive, engaging and safe experience to consumers.

While AR and VR fall under the same realm, there is a significant difference in the hardware and software that goes into enabling these technologies and the experience that they create. While AR layers digital information into real world scenarios, VR offers a whole immersive experience. A multitude of devices such as smartphones which a vast majority of consumers possess are already AR enabled making it more accessible, economic and easier to execute. Over two billion smartphones are capable of displaying high quality, true-to-size AR content. VR on the other hand requires specially configured devices that are rather costly and not possessed by the average consumer. Although the number of VR devices being sold has seen a significant increase over the years. Hence we’ll be discussing both these technologies individually in the coming sections.

Here’s how AR can benefit retailers and improve shopper experience:-

1. Create better online shopping experiences : Coronavirus is unsettling every aspect of our lives, including our retail experiences. As consumers have become more confined to their home, online shopping is now more important than ever and augmented reality (AR) technology has been thrust into the limelight to help online retailers deliver an efficient shopping experience.People are now more inclined towards staying home as a result of lockdowns in several countries, self-quarantine and compulsory work from home. With social distancing norms in place, consumers are more and more reluctant to visit stores in person, which is severely affecting retailers in nearly every industry.Hence, people have more free time now. You can expect consumers to spend more of this time shopping online. Thus it falls upon you to enrich the consumers shopping journey and help them make better decisions.With AR technology consumers can use their smartphones to bring life to a product and see what it might look like in their homes, on their tables or walls, or even on themselves.Here’s how Ikea helped consumers make quicker and better decisions while engaging with AR.

   Brands that have been early adopters of AR technology have seen significant lift in sales for several years. Conversion rates are increasing anywhere from 10% to as much as 200%. Product returns are dropping by 25%. Time to make buying decisions has been cut in half. AR is making impacts with real ROI that can’t be ignored, even without looming fears of coronavirus.

2. In-store navigation : Retail experiences need to involve less physical contact in the current circumstances. Even long after this crisis, consumers will be highly alert and particularly conscious about how they interact with products in bricks-and-mortar stores – here’s where augmented reality (AR) technology can come in. Current limitations provide chances for retailers to connect emotionally to consumers and appeal to their shopping senses.Some ways of doing so is by prioritizing consumers’ safety, establishing trust and offering convenience and ease of use.By using AR to facilitate in-store navigation, you can help consumers reduce the time spent and interactions in the store. You can choose to provide consumers with directions to the stores from different mall entrances or with in-door maps to enable them to find items quickly in the store.
3. Contactless trial : Clothing and apparel retail outlets depend on consumers to try out their products in stores. Consumers will be reluctant to try out clothes that might have possibly come into contact with others. To overcome this obstacle, you can use AR with video walls and image recognition to virtually enable product trials in stores.

   A similar application can also be put to use through mobile phones while consumers shop online from home. This could accelerate the decision making process and drive more sales while reducing returns.

   

4. Online Marketing : Many brands and retailers rely on the physical touch and feel of products to drive purchase decisions. Launching new products has been a challenge in the current situation where consumers cannot visit stores to examine products physically.In such a situation, you can use AR to create a digitally enhanced experience of the product which consumers can interact with from their homes. Consumers delighted by such experiences not only increase brand loyalty but also act as advocates for the brand. Recently OnePlus launched their new OnePlus 8 smartphone series online via youtube live. Shortly after, the brand launched an AR version of the unboxing of their new phone which customers could try using the AR filter option on instagram which they can further share on their social media creating more engagement.
5. Personalized Products : Creating a custom order used to take a lot of time and rely on the customer’s imagination. AR in retail helps overcome those hurdles by producing virtual versions of the desired product. Nike’s Makers’ Experience combines AR, object tracking and projection technology (using AI and IoT) as well as digital signage or video walls to enable a customized design to appear on sneakers.

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6. Personalized marketing and product discovery : In-store navigation can be coupled with personalized marketing. While consumers are using their smartphone as they navigate across your store, you can display personalized offers on products through AR and AI based on the purchase history and preferences of the consumer. Personalized offers have higher conversion rates and improve shopper experience.

   You can also use AR to recommend products to consumers.

How VR is transforming shopping experience:

1. Creating virtual encounters : VR can help overcome the hassle factor of shopping. Here’s one example: according to a McKinsey study, the average car buyer today visits 1.6 auto dealerships, down from five dealerships 10 years ago. Many call the experience boring, confrontational and bureaucratic, according to The Economist. But given how complicated cars are becoming, customers also want a knowledgeable person to talk them through all the features like entertainment systems, navigation services and automated parking.On the other hand due to the global pandemic situation, consumers wouldn’t prefer visiting multiple showrooms or interacting and coming into contact with many people.VR can bridge consumers’ seeming conflict between the desire for personal service and unwillingness to visit a store by enabling experiences virtually. For a car purchase, this might mean exploring the cockpit or taking a virtual test drive.
2. V-commerce : As consumers are now more comfortable shopping online instead of visiting physical stores, you should focus on making your e-commerce channel more powerful and experience driven.The potential for using virtual reality in online retailing is obvious: it allows retailers to create much more immersive and engaging experiences that mimic those of physical retail stores, as well as adding enhancement not possible in the real world.
3. In-store VR : VR can be used to make the in-store experience much more compelling and interesting for the customer, and add real, tangible benefits for the retailer. As the design of retail spaces becomes much more intelligent, focusing on maximising footfall in the right places at the right times, VR can have a measurable impact on key metrics.Because it’s still a relatively novel technology, having a VR installation in-store can drive footfall by creating a buzz around a particular part of the shop. In turn, this can lead to increased dwell times – and if the plan for the VR area is well thought out, this can mean additional sales for key items and more browsing of important product categories.Toms shoes company chain is one nice example of VR for retail. The company follows a One-for-One giving model, in which it gives a pair of free shoes to a child in a developing country for every pair purchased by a customer. To bring that to life, Toms developed a 360-degree Virtual Giving Trip campaign to give customers the opportunity to experience first-hand the impact of their purchase.
4. Facilitate employee training : Training employees is a complicated process. This exercise can prove costly if the employee makes some mistakes during the training process resulting in a financial loss for the employer. The use of VR can minimize the risk involved in the training procedure. Using Virtual Reality technology, employees can be trained by simulating real-life environments and situations.Walmart adopted VR to help identify employees for management positions. Wearing Oculus Go VR headsets, associates are immersed in real-life situations, such as calming an angry customer or taking new employees on a store tour to test their decision-making, leadership capabilities, and soft skills in challenging situations.

Conclusion

Retailers that already have AR and VR capabilities in place are better prepared to adapt to the changing customer behaviour. AR and VR collectively offer a unique shopping experience to your customers that helps them make better decisions while saving their time and keeping them safe by either reducing contact in stores or enabling an immersive experience while shopping from home.

That’s why it’s a good time to think about how you can use AR and VR in your online and physical stores. Customers will return, not just for a bargain, but for the experience your store offers.

The post 10 Applications of AR/VR that can Transform Your Retail Sales Completely. Find out How! appeared first on [x]cube LABS.

Table of contents

• The growth in app development trends: Unprecedented and ongoing
• 10 Mobile application trends to watch out for in 2020
  1. IoT
  2. Instant Apps
  3. AR/VR
  4. Chatbots
  5. BYOD
  6. Apps for foldable devices
  7. Beacons technology
  8. 5G
  9. Blockchain
  10. Low code/no-code development
• Conclusion

The growth in app development trends: unprecedented and ongoing

According to Statista, the number of smartphone users worldwide today surpasses three billion and is forecasted to grow further by several hundred million in the next few years. China, India, and the United States are the countries with the highest number of smartphone users, with each country surpassing the 100 million user mark. With the increasing usage of smartphones, mobile app development trends are also growing and have made it essential for developers to stay updated and relevant.Businesses globally are keeping an eye on the latest trends to reap the maximum advantage and create a stronger, more engaged user-base. While we saw unprecedented growth in app development trends till 2019, this year is set to witness a similar trajectory of growth, with more promising trends. We have listed the top ten among them that businesses and developers must watch out for in 2020.

10 Mobile application trends to watch out for in 2020

1. IoT

   2019 witnessed brands like Amazon and Google leveraging IoT and strengthening the competition by introducing the “Echo” range of devices and “Home voice controller” respectively. The investment of hardware companies like Cisco and Dell in IoT and Google’s move to acquire wearable company Fitbit and its collaboration with Nest, a home security camera manufacturer, further hints at the fast movement of these companies towards IoT technology.

   So far we have seen various use cases of IoT in real-life such as continuous supply chain management in retail, connected homes and savvy healthcare monitoring. We are yet to see more and with the increase in demand for IoT solutions, the demand for IoT-enabled apps will grow simultaneously. Forbes magazine predicts that the IoT market would double by 2021. App developers, therefore, will be looking to develop apps for connected products.

2. Instant Apps

   Unlike native apps, you don’t need to download and install instant apps to run them, they can be accessed via a shared link. Instant apps give you access to limited features or a fundamental features-only version of the app. One of the prime reasons they are gaining traction is app demos. These apps provide a look into an app’s complete version and make it easier for you to decide if it’s useful for you before choosing to download. It has become a better way of reaching out to target audiences and convince them for installation. Another advantage of instant apps is that they are smaller in size when compared to regular apps which reduce the page loading time and bounce rate. Vimeo reported an increased session rate by 130% with instant apps.

   With users continuously demanding a better experience and shorter load times, instant apps are something to look forward to in 2020.

3. AR/VR

   Many eCommerce stores, realtors and apparel brands have integrated AR/VR technologies in their applications- Sephora and IKEA, for instance. This not only enabled them to boost and enhance user experience but also increased conversion rates. New use cases are underway as technological giants like Apple and Google are investing heavily in innovation using AR. This year, Google plans to introduce a new AR feature for Google Maps, which would provide people with directions from their camera phones in real time.

   According to Statista, the augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) market is forecasted to reach 18.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. Looking at the growth drivers and potential use cases, we can confirm that this year, AR integration will be one of the significant mobile app development trends that would shape the mobile industry.

4. Chatbots

   Initially, only apps like Facebook, Skype, and Slack used chatbots at large but now we see most of the businesses leveraging chatbots for customer interactions. With nearly 50% of customers preferring self-service chatbots over human representatives, it has become imperative for every major product and service sector business to deploy a chatbot. Till date, there are approximately 2.5 million apps in the Google Play Store and nearly 1.8 million in the Apple App Store. However, there are very few apps that have deployed chatbots to enhance customer experience.

   As per Gartner, chatbot interaction is set to increase from just 20% in 2017 to 93% in 2022. With 80% of enterprises expected to use chatbots by 2020, the integration of chatbots to mobile apps will escalate quickly.

5. BYOD

   Bring Your Own Device is a trend under which companies allow their employees to use their personal smartphones and tablet devices for work. This way, enterprises save the cost of device purchase. This comes with security challenges such as employee frauds and industrial spying but they can be averted by deploying a BYOD app. They can install the app on their personal devices which can have different features and rights.

   According to Insights, BYOD market will reach $367 billion by 2022. Many companies are expected to follow the trend set by large enterprises and build company app for their employees.

6. Apps for foldable devices

   With Samsung coming up with its foldable phones, the operating systems are getting ready to make use of this technology to improve smartphone experiences. Google, in 2018, officially announced the foldable support on Android phones by using its ‘screen continuity’ API. According to Samsung, many android apps such as Amazon prime video, Twitter and Facebook have already been optimized for their Galaxy fold. Video streaming and gaming apps can also reap more benefits from foldable technology by simply increasing their screen size or using the extra space for additional information and controls.

   Since foldable phones are the next big thing of 2020, developers must plan their strategy in a way that their applications are poised to run seamlessly on foldable devices.

7. Beacon technology

   A beacon technology-enabled app on your device shows you where you can have your preferred products, their costs, and other specifications. Beacons utilize BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) signals. When your device enters a beacon’s zone, the particular app instantly gets this signal and offers appropriate notifications and instructions for the users. Industries like healthcare, museums, and hotels have already included beacons in their services. After Apple’s iBeacon and Google’s Eddystone, now beacon is a part of both iOS and Android app development.

   Beacon technology has been around for some time now, and 2020 will make its presence even stronger. Beacon-based notifications are increasingly helping many businesses and industries to connect with their customers in a highly contextual manner.

   According to GeoMarketing, by 2020, the number of beacon deployments is expected to reach 400 million globally, thereby generating $56,554M by 2026.

8. 5G

   The introduction of 5G networks will not just strengthen network performance but create a data-intensive environment, facilitating new opportunities. By providing lower latency and speeding up data-sharing by upto 10x , you can automate more core processes and deliver improved applications for capturing and sharing data. 5G services offer an extensive range of opportunities, app developers should design the apps that can handle volumes of data being transmitted without compromising with performance.

   It is anticipated that the transition from 4G services to 5G wireless network will be completed by the end of 2020.

9. Blockchain

   Blockchain technology, launched many years back, became a buzzword in 2018, and it was 2019 when we witnessed its many use cases across various industries. With data breaches and security becoming major challenges for business leaders worldwide, blockchain as a trend is growing fast. A large number of fintech companies have already reaped the benefits from blockchain app development.

   According to Transparency Market research, the blockchain market will reach $20 billion by 2024. This clearly indicates that app developers must get ready to capitalize on this technology.

10. Low code/no-code development

    Businesses looking to have an in-house app development team sometimes lack the resources needed to effectively plan and develop a mobile product.  Low-code or no-code development is increasingly becoming popular among such businesses as it eliminates the need for in-house personnel to have a thorough knowledge of coding. In case of no-code development, they can develop the product with no coding knowledge at all.  These platforms are easy to use; where users can simply drag and drop visual components and compile an app.

    While low-code/no-code development platforms are not here to replace traditional coding, this trend will get a boost in 2020, especially among enterprises where budgets are a constraint.

Conclusion

As the trends change and new technologies evolve, it is important for business leaders to stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies and stand out in the highly competitive mobile app development space. The evolving app development trends would drive the need for enterprise mobile app development services. Make sure you keep up with the technologies and trends we mentioned here and try to implement them as much in your mobile app. You can also leverage the expertise of mobile app development companies such as [x]cube LABS to scale your businesses through mobile applications.

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