The promise of augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) has become a hot topic among marketers, particularly in light of the release of Yelp's Monocle app that allows users to see location-based reviews hovering on their iPhone screens. The technology has provoked repeat interest from Mashable, Wired, Fast Company, and ReadWriteWeb, while companies like IBM, GE, Best Buy, P&G, and Wal-Mart are moving beyond pure gimmick to truly connect with consumers via AR.
The seminal promise of AR is as the touchstone technology allowing social networks, geo-based tracking, and the semantic web to converge. Put less geekily, think of AR as your personalized digital butler, who will get to know your behavior so specifically that it can prethink your choices based on your friends, location, and how you search online. The cyberpunk fictions have come to reality with AR, and the cultural ramifications are as powerful as the marketing opportunities.
In this article, we'll take a look at the fundamental ways in which augmented reality will reshape consumer behavior and interactive marketing, as well as a few companies and applications that are leading the way.
