Kiosk Solutions Oct-Nov 2017 | Page 35

virtual reality kiosks Coming to a kiosk near you Augmented and virtual reality technologies promise to greatly expand screen-based applications Richard Slawsky, Contributor: Kiosk Industry Association A new dimension is about to be added to the world of customer- facing screens. Retailers and other businesses are working to incorporate augmented reality and virtual reality to change the way consumers shop, industrial workers manufacture products and engineers design new devices. These technologies haven’t yet reached critical mass in the marketplace, but industry observers say it’s just a matter of time. Although predictions of market size should always be taken with a grain of salt, a report by Digi-Capital pegs the AR/VR market as topping $108 billion by 2021, up from $3.9 billion in 2016. Augmented reality is defined as a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. Augmented reality as a concept has been around for several years, but gained widespread attention in 2016 with the smartphone-based game Pokemon Go. Players of the game used the smartphone’s GPS capabilities to locate and capture virtual creatures called Pokemon, which were visible when viewing real-world locations using the smartphone screen. Virtual reality, on the other hand, is a computer-generated environment typically entered via a headset that creates that world in front of the wearers’ eyes. Although the gaming market may be the prime driver for VR technology, retailers including Lowes, IKEA and Walmart are exploring VR for uses ranging from interior design to employee training. VR solutions currently on the market include Facebook’s Oculus Rift and HTC’s VIVE. In addition, a number of solutions integrate a user’s smartphone into an add-on headset as a way to create a VR experience. Early adopters setting the stage Much of the movement in the AR space to date revolves around solutions that let consumers view how a particular product will look in their home before they make a buying decision. Ashley Furniture, for example, debuted an iPad app in 2016 to help KIOSK solutions 35