How ready are WebAR Technologies?

Augmented Reality (AR) is emerging as the upcoming tech giant of the digital world. With the increase of technological penetration day-by-day, many businesses have started implementing Augmented Reality and are enjoying the fruits of its benefit. With the introduction of WebAR, now it has become easier for any business to use the advantage of augmented reality.

What is WebAR?

WebAR can be simply denoted as a Web-based Augmented Reality experience. With this technology, one can directly access the AR interface from a common web browser through a specific web link or a URL. It doesn’t require the installation of any separate app or software on your device. Also, webAR works well with basic animations, 3D models, and videos.

Scope and benefits of WebAR:

The major benefit of webAR technology is that there is no third party or separate app installation required for experiencing AR, one can simply access it through the website. This is a fruitful opportunity for any business which is preaching AR as it removes the major hurdle of suggesting the customer download irrelevant apps and ultimately the user may lose interest to experience the content. But with webAR technology, the business can directly introduce the AR content to the customers by directing them to a website, thus at the end increasing the penetration and engagement rate into the AR content.

Also, webAR allows an additional advantage to measure this engagement rate through various web tracking and analytics tools available which are compatible with AR-enabled websites. Not limited to this only, these platforms may also provide more detailed information like for how much duration a customer has interacted with a product or if it is for an e-commerce store selling clothes and fashion products, we can get to know more about the customers’ preferences such as size, brand choice and also about their demographics.

Present scenario of webAR market:

Top tech companies such as Apple and Google are working to make webAR a realistic concept for years. The research and development process for webAR began in the year 2000 but with the technological advancement, it is growing at a rapid rate in the recent 3-4 years.

 

The reach of webAR technology is also increasing tremendously with the support of major smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Apple, Oppo, and Samsung. Also, leading web browsers such as Chrome, Safari and Firefox have also enabled the support for the AR.

The best practical example of webAR is Shopify. Their website has the AR-enabled feature which provides the customers to view the outlook of the product in their setting or space.

Limitations

WebAR seems to be a quite flexible option for using AR technology but everything has its boundaries and so does webAR. For high-quality interactive content and 3D models, webAR might not able to work efficiently and deliver the expected results. Some high-textured 3D models may not be compatible to run with webAR. It may cause the website to run at a low-speed rate and may take time to load the content. For these issues, an app-based AR is the only solution for executing high-quality and interactive content.

WebAR is the right type of technology for those sectors whose customers are spontaneous and fast like for the event and retail sector. The customers in these sectors want to see innovation but in a simple form, therefore webAR might be the perfect fit here. But on the other hand, while marketing for a high-end specific business, high-quality content is necessary for converting a successful lead and increasing business reputation, thus webAR might not be the right choice of platform.

Future of webAR

WebAR will bring the revolution in the technology sector because of its prime feature that is to access information easily and instantly. It may bring the possibility to integrate augmented reality with the real-time environment such as scanning the streets for getting visual directions.

The future of webAR depends on web browsers which are managed by major tech giants like Apple and Google. Both of these organizations are trying their best to unveil the possibilities of webAR and its usage.

Conclusion:

WebAR is becoming a boon for the business sector due to its easy implementation. With the increase in smartphone usage webAR is making augmented reality more easily accessible to a large number of users resulting in a profitable advantage for many businesses. However, there is still some scope of improvement in this technology to make it more advance for offering quality augmented experience to the users.