New services are continually being integrated into the rapidly evolving mobile market. This provides consumers with new types of experience. When the consumer experience is enhanced it leads to the unintended consequence of raising consumer expectations for all technology services. Companies that deliver services that meet these enhanced expectations are enjoying significant competitive advantages over those who don’t.
It means that whoever delivers the best user experience captures and retains more business. This is relevant to nearly all companies, but I would like to talk in particular about companies producing and selling home electronics, such as washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioning systems, etc.
In the past decade a number of prominent home appliance companies that successfully deployed mobile augmented reality has rose. Augmented reality technology was mostly used to address customer concerns about in-home placement of electronic devices.
The most interesting cases are shown below:
1) Samsung Smart TV
Samsung decided to help its buyers to experience its new lines of Samsung Smart TVs in augmented reality using a special Samsung Smart TV AR app. For a few years in a row it showcases new TVs and updates mobile applications.
2) Vizio TV
Vizio released Showroom app that also allow consumers to hold a smart tablet to a wall and visualize how a TV will look in the space. Unlike Samsung the company has their application available on both the App Store and Google Play markets. Vizio provides additional features in its app such as video streaming and audio playing through the virtual display.
3) Kitchens from Bosch
The free app by Bosch helps the buyer make the right choice when choosing ColorGlass kitchen appliances. Users can take a picture of their kitchen, select the type of appliance they are interested in (ovens or microwaves) and pick a color. With the help of Augmented Reality the chosen appliance can then be placed, correctly scaled, on the image of the kitchen in order to preview how it would look like
4) Mitsubishi Air Conditioning by metaio
Mitsubishi implemented the MeView™ iPhone app. Using an easily placed target, contractors were able to use iPhone, or iPad to show prospective customers exactly what the wall-mounted unit would look like in their home. Increase in sales translated into $30 million dollars in revenues. In addition to the new revenues, Mitsubishi was also able to save millions of dollars in printing and distribution costs for catalogs. Improved customer satisfaction directly benefited contractors and created new barriers to competition.
5) ShowInRoom platform by Augmented Pixels
Augmented Pixels provides companies specializing in home electronics with an opportunity to rather create a custom augmented reality solution for them or to allocate a them a space in its virtual sales platform ShowInRoom. Combination of great user experience and click to action turns ShowInRoom into a promising platform for Furniture and Home Appliance sales.
Author:
Augmented Pixels Co.– Augmented Reality Solutions
Product Marketing Manager
Daria Gaioshko