Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). These two words invoke images of expensive hardware, fancy cameras, and tracking sensors. You may imagine developers sitting in dark rooms coding away, wearing virtual goggles, lost in their digital worlds. These images make using immersive technology seem out of grasp for the average marketing department or business team but that’s not the case. Companies can take advantage of VR and AR without lengthy development time and costly projects. Here are three easy ways businesses can use augmented or virtual reality tomorrow.

Make 2D marketing material data-rich

Create your own mobile augmented reality (AR) experience, no code required. Turn any object or product into a data-rich object with augmented reality with apps like Blippar. Drag and drop icons to link a product to a website, phone number, or social media page. AR makes indirect marketing a thing of the past. Like websites, you can track and analyze views, interactions, and users from an AR experience.

 

For more professional AR advertising, use companies like Glimmar that use their own patented technology to make augmented ads. Their technology lets consumers view augmented experiences without the need for a separate app.

Collaborate with remote team members

Remote work is on the rise and technology is evolving to meet the growing demand to work from home, the coffee shop, or airplane. Virtual reality apps, like Immersed, are quickly rising up to compete with traditional teleconferencing tools. Unlike phone calls and video conferences, virtual reality allows coworkers to interact with each other as if in real life. VR collaboration apps offer features like whiteboards, screen sharing, 3D drawing, and interactive gestures. Many of these apps run across platforms so users without VR headsets can still participate in meetings.

Test prototypes in real-world environments

Need to bring a 2D presentation to life or display how a prototype looks in the real world? Use Windows Mixed Reality. Every Windows 10 PC and Surface comes with mixed reality apps built in. Use Paint 3D and the Mixed Reality Viewer to create and build mixed reality (MR) experiences with drag and drop functionality. The MR Viewer takes some getting used too but the user interface is clean and no coding is required. Interact with the end result on a PC, Surface or Windows MR headset.

 

Want to learn more about how AR and VR are impacting businesses in a big way? Watch my Keynote from Startup Cincy on breaking down the barriers to AR and VR. Plus, how companies can identify where to use immersive tech.