Web-AR Applications Hands-On
Before enrolling to this unit I haven’t try VR nor AR-based applications that much before, even as a computer science student that likes to game and browse the internet. But the concept of a technological-powered “simulation world” always seems interesting to me to deep dive into, hence my interest on creative technologies and this unit itself. Besides the complex implementation and use of virtual reality, the simplest way to experience this “simulation world” is by through web-AR applications. Augmented reality applications can be experienced by a tool as simple as your smartphone, compared to virtual reality that requires high cost equipment such as the popular Oculus Rift. To put in simply, web-AR applications enable people to take advantage of the latest technology in a conventional way and give benefits to many sectors of industries. One of the ways to try a web-AR application is through a website called ‘8thwall’, they offer free demos for people to experience augmented reality just by a barcode for people to scan on and experience it on their smartphone cameras. Me myself tried a few demos offered by the website on my smartphone and it was just a unique experience, such as seeing 3D characters standing right in my bedroom. One of demos that caught my eye is ‘7-Eleven — Take It To Eleven’. In this web-AR application, the ones who use it will be “teleported” to a 7-Eleven store and their appearance will be altered as well, mimicking a person riding a bike whilst drinking a Big Gulp.
This got me thinking, besides the capability of augmented reality transforming the environment around you, it can also transform you. One of the many industries that can benefit from this is the fashion industry, where their goal revolves around transforming our appearance through clothes, pants, shoes, hats, etc. The benefit that the fashion industry can gain using augmented reality technology is to give a way for people that shops fashion online to try the outfits they are interested to order online. This can propose a major alternative for people that are interested in the fashion world, enabling them to try such outfits in just in the nick of time. Besides just for trying outfits, this can also enable the industry to do virtual outfit showcase or even a virtual fashion show where their intended target market can experience in such a convenient way. Other industry that may benefit from the augmented reality technology is the movie industry, where they can promote their movies through the use of AR with their movie character models.
