Alex Kipman Explains How Augmented Reality Could Help Small Businesses

Augmented Reality could reshape the world and be a boon for businesses, as industry expert Alex Kipman explains.

If you follow tech, you’ve probably heard much about Virtual Reality, or VR for short. For many years, VR has been a mainstay in tech futurism and pop culture. However, Augmented Reality, or AR, may prove to be just as big of a development in the long run. Virtual and Augmented Reality expert Alex Kipman examines how AR might impact small businesses.

“More or less, Augmented Reality refers to combining our reality with a computer-generated reality,” explains Alex Kipman. “This allows us to enhance our reality and to add value to people’s lives. AR will help to break down the barrier between the brick-and-mortar and online worlds.”

Let’s say a consumer visits a new city and he or she is walking around downtown. This consumer might be looking for a museum they want to visit or perhaps a renowned niche shop they want to try. Getting lost in a new town is really easy, but with Augmented Reality, if the consumer is wearing a set of smart glasses and has access to the right software, they can plug the directions right into those glasses.

The AR can actually show the visitor where to walk by overlaying directions right onto the physical world. This makes it much easier to get where you’re going rather than, say, reading a map. The visitor will also spend less time looking at their phone and more time taking in the world. Easy-to-follow directions get people to where they need to go, which for businesses could mean more customers.

“As we break down the barriers between the online and physical world, that could actually mean spending more time in the real world,” notes Alex Kipman. “AR will also add convenience and enrich people’s lives.”

Alex Kipman Explains How AR Adds Tangible Value

Let’s say the visitor stops by a famous comic book store or another niche shop. While walking the aisles, the customer could use AR to pull up reviews of various comic books or whatever else they are looking at and display them on their smart glasses. This added information could entice the customer to make a purchase, which will obviously benefit the comic book store.

“Reducing friction is one of the most important aspects of Augmented Reality,” notes Alex Kipman. “This is important for businesses and consumers alike as it makes every acquisition and even action easier to carry out.”

Later, the visitor might get back to their guest room at a Bed & Breakfast. Anyone who’s checked into a guest room may find themselves struggling to use the AC system, water heater, lights, room service, or whatever else. With AR, the customer can be walked through directions on how to use everything right in their room.

This way, the visitor won’t have to rely on staff to learn how to use things. Small businesses often have small staff, so even simple requests can become quite a strain. Further, not only does AR save time, but it can also encourage the customer to use services like room service, ultimately generating revenues for their host.