How to Attract and Entertain Your Customers with AR Apps: 10 Lessons from the Best

In 2018 Augmented Reality is slowly making not only its way in our lives but more like a cozy room in it. The hip technology was attracting a lot of attention during the Consumers Electronics Show (CES) last month in Las Vegas where Wall Street was said to be looking into it. And in the battle augmented reality vs. virtual reality, AR is a clear winner with a projected $85–90 billion within the next 5 years, compared to $10–15 billion for VR.

The opportunities of augmented reality for business are more than enough. In marketing, brands are using the hip technology to entertain and engage with their customers, and startupers are coming up with crazy new ways to apply AR into everyday life. With the ARKit it has become pretty accessible to contribute to AR apps and come up with your own concepts. To get some idea how AR apps can be a great source of successful marketing and entertaining, or of the everyday appliance of AR plus some games that will that Pokemon Go sized hole in your body, take a look at one of the best AR apps on the market.

Released late in 2017 Lego AR Studio allows mixing virtual and physical Lego. Developed with Apple’s ARKit, it lets children (and their parents) play with digital versions of their products. The app is free to download, but of course, you will have to buy some Lego branded bricks before, to make it work. Lego AR Studio brings Lego sets to life, accompanied by audiovisual effects and also includes exciting features like a dragon breathing fire or trains sounding a horn. You can record the actions and save videos directly to your smart device.

L’Oreal’s Makeup Genius AR app lets you try on the craziest makeup styles without having to leave your home or even buy any products. It’s like a Snapchat minus crazy/weird animal faces. The first virtual makeup app allows you to try on any of the L’Oreal products. You can either select one from the catalog or scan code of a physical product. You can move, smile, wink, basically do anything you want without fearing to “smudge” the makeup. It is truly a game-changer in the beauty industry and a new, powerful way of letting customers experience the products.

IKEA Place is basically like The Sims only real life! It allows placing IKEA’s Scandinavian inspired furniture into your apartment, office, elevator, a street, virtually everywhere. You can pick a product from the catalog and see how it fits (or not) into your room. All the pieces are true to size (with 98% accuracy), and you can move them around the space pretty easily. The downside, it doesn’t contain the whole catalog but it is a step closer to making your trips to the store easier.

TapMeasure offers a new way to capture and measure space. The spacial utility that combines computer vision and AR allows you to capture instant point-to-point measurements, quickly level artwork and other framed items, and create a complete 3D model of a room with features like doors, windows, and artwork. The app is free to download, but it does charge for some of its special features like file export.

Euclidean lands is an AR game that is often described as “Monument Valley meets Hitman Go.” It offers the same level of aesthetics as the famous Monument Valley and similar to Hitman GO its main star a tiny spear-armed warrior can move one space at a time. The game is both challenging and relaxing, and a floating 3D Rubik’s Cube makes it very beautiful.

Nesquik dips into AR pool with a variety of AR based games to engage customers with their products in a fun way. In the example above you scan a box of morning cereal and play with Nesquik next time you don’t know how to entertain yourself during breakfast. Another Nesquik game — Quicky’s World features the famous rabbit engaged in various activities, like games, puzzles, virtual biking, and skateboarding. This game is not only fun but also informative as it provides some tips and tricks on nutrition and fitness.

Johnson & Johnson wants your kids to smile and have fun next time they get a boo-boo. How do they do it? By bringing Muppets to life with their Band-Aid Magic Vision app. All you need is a BAND-AID Brand Adhesive Bandage featuring The Muppets, and your iOS device and you can see augmented reality Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and Kermit in your living room. Point the app at any of the 6 bandages featuring The Muppets and you can have your favorite Muppets on your palm and there to help you forget about your boo-boos.

The augmented reality app by Converse lets you try on any of Converse pairs virtually. Simply select a pair from the digital catalog, point your iPhone camera on your right leg and enjoy virtual shopping! You can also snap a photo of your “Conversed” foot and send it to a friend for a second opinion. When you’ve made your choice, you can click “Buy Now” button.

Back in 2014 Pepsi Max turned a dull bus stop window into an entertainment that commuters never asked for. The bus shelter’s wall was swapped for a fake window that showed a number of unlikely, crazy scenarios like flying saucers, a tiger on the loose or an attacking robot, all there to promote their Unbelievable campaign.

Helping you pick furniture, select the right style and color of clothes, entertaining anytime and anywhere or even turning your phone into a ruler and a hefty multitool — the power of augmented reality seems unlimited, and with the right marketing strategy or a problem you can find a solution for, the ways to apply it are more than enough.