iPhone And Augmented Reality: Could Battery Life & Heat Issues Kill Consumer Adoption?
Well, it seems as though the interactive marketing community has a shiny new toy, “augmented reality” (AR). Beat it Twitter, you’re old news now. There’s a younger, cuter kid in the house now…
We’ve actually been tracking the technology for a while now, and have written about AR several times. We even created our own application using the technology.
That said, we’re firm believes in utility, not just using the tech for the sake of using it. That is, how can we use AR to create better (i.e. more meaningful/useful) online experiences for the consumer, not just gimmicky extensions of a web presence? With that philosophy in mind, we’re extremely excited about the potential mobile brings to the AR space. Could you imagine if you were shopping at Best Buy and while viewing a washing machine through your phone, relevant data was overlaid on the image you were viewing? For example, you could have quick access to user ratings and reviews for that product. The data is out there, we know customer reviews are a trusted source and subsequently affect sales. That’s powerful stuff. Or, what if you’re checking out inventory that Best Buy happens to need off the floor (or out of their warehouse), they could present you with a coupon immediately. Right there on the spot.
And now that the newest version the iPhone has video capabilities and a compass, well, the possibilities are endless. Right? Well, sadly… not yet. Now, let’s assume that this petition is successful, and that Apple opens up their API so developers can manipulate live video. Even if we get past that hurdle, there are still two issues that I think could slow down consumer adoption of these types of applications: Battery Life, and Heat.
This conversation came up with my CEO (Matt) a few weeks ago, but it crystallized in my mind when I downloaded “Assassins Creed” for my iPhone over the weekend. After playing for about 10 – 20 minutes I had used half my battery and had 3rd degree burns on my hands (Dear Mr. Jobs, I did not actually get burned, please don’t sue me). That’s just not going to cut it for the average consumer. They won’t put up with it. Of course, I’m not saying that applications won’t get made. Of course they will. And I’m not saying that people won’t try them out. The early adopters will always flock to the cool/new. The average consumer though, the masses, now that’s a different story… For them, the application needs to be a touch more “user friendly”.
What do you think? Will the realities of the iPhone (currently) hurt consumer adoption/usage of AR applications, and will that subsequently slow down 3rd party development/innovation?
Great googily-moogily! Twitter and AR together in one application? Looks like Christmas came early for marketers…
Tags: AR, augmented reality, iphone, Twitter
July 21st, 2009
iPhone And Augmented Reality: Could Battery Life & Heat Issues Kill Consumer Adoption?
Well, it seems as though the interactive marketing community has a shiny new toy, “augmented reality” (AR). Beat it Twitter, you’re old news now. There’s a younger, cuter kid in the house now…
We’ve actually been tracking the technology for a while now, and have written about AR several times. We even created our own application using the technology.
That said, we’re firm believes in utility, not just using the tech for the sake of using it. That is, how can we use AR to create better (i.e. more meaningful/useful) online experiences for the consumer, not just gimmicky extensions of a web presence? With that philosophy in mind, we’re extremely excited about the potential mobile brings to the AR space. Could you imagine if you were shopping at Best Buy and while viewing a washing machine through your phone, relevant data was overlaid on the image you were viewing? For example, you could have quick access to user ratings and reviews for that product. The data is out there, we know customer reviews are a trusted source and subsequently affect sales. That’s powerful stuff. Or, what if you’re checking out inventory that Best Buy happens to need off the floor (or out of their warehouse), they could present you with a coupon immediately. Right there on the spot.
And now that the newest version the iPhone has video capabilities and a compass, well, the possibilities are endless. Right? Well, sadly… not yet. Now, let’s assume that this petition is successful, and that Apple opens up their API so developers can manipulate live video. Even if we get past that hurdle, there are still two issues that I think could slow down consumer adoption of these types of applications: Battery Life, and Heat.
This conversation came up with my CEO (Matt) a few weeks ago, but it crystallized in my mind when I downloaded “Assassins Creed” for my iPhone over the weekend. After playing for about 10 – 20 minutes I had used half my battery and had 3rd degree burns on my hands (Dear Mr. Jobs, I did not actually get burned, please don’t sue me). That’s just not going to cut it for the average consumer. They won’t put up with it. Of course, I’m not saying that applications won’t get made. Of course they will. And I’m not saying that people won’t try them out. The early adopters will always flock to the cool/new. The average consumer though, the masses, now that’s a different story… For them, the application needs to be a touch more “user friendly”.
What do you think? Will the realities of the iPhone (currently) hurt consumer adoption/usage of AR applications, and will that subsequently slow down 3rd party development/innovation?
@jack_benoff
Great googily-moogily! Twitter and AR together in one application? Looks like Christmas came early for marketers…
Tags: AR, augmented reality, iphone, Twitter
Share
AR, augmented reality, iphone, Twitter | Cool Stuff We Like, Mobile, augmented reality | Permalink
0 comments
Leave a Reply
Click here to cancel reply.
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
Website
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail
September 29th, 2010 at 6:22 pmTOP OF PAGE
Whats up ! Love your ; thanks for sharing it with everyone
December 16th, 2010 at 11:12 am