With a level of fanfare that would have made even Steve Jobs blush, Google unveiled the first working prototype of its Google ‘Goggles’ last month. The augmented reality spectacles feature a mini-projector that can display an image in front of your eyes, without distracting the wearer from the wider world.
They also feature a camera that allows the information to be beamed in front of your eyes to match and respond directly to the environment you’re in. Think Arnie in The Terminator. While a select number of the special specs, dubbed Google Glass, will be made available to developers in the autumn for $1,500 a pop, 2014 is the earliest date set by the company for a consumer release.
That’s not to say retailers and brands shouldn’t be thinking about augmented reality (AR) now. In fact, many have already been experimenting with AR through mobile devices. Start-ups like Blippar are focusing on AR as a brand amplification and advertising solution, working with the likes of Shreddies to make their Knitting Nanas come to life as you hover your phone in front of the pack. Another AR start-up, Zappar, has focused on how AR can add that extra dimension to a product, working with George at Asda to launch the UK’s first AR t-shirts.
But we are still left with the fundamental question of whether seeing dancing grannies while eating your breakfast is really a compelling enough call to action to spur anything like mass adoption. Once you move beyond the initial sense of wow and “branded entertainment”, what’s the significant value-add that brands are looking to offer us through AR?
IBM this week tried to answer this with the announcement that it’s developing an AR app for retailers. Customers could download the Tesco version of the IBM app, for instance, and type in their ClubCard number to give the app an idea of their product preferences. By holding their mobile up to a shelf, favourite brands would be automatically highlighted alongside special offers and coupons. There would also be the opportunity to overlay information about ingredients and nutrition, as well as try to up-sell and cross-sell items.
The hope is this will empower consumers in-store while giving retailers the opportunity to build consumer loyalty through a more personalised shopping experience.
As somebody who sometimes struggles to push a trolley with two hands, needing one free to wave a phone about seems like asking for trouble. Stick this app on my Google specs however, and this fantasy moves a lot closer to reality.
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