Augmented Reality was no more than just a figment of the human imagination a decade ago. Fast forward to today, mobile apps are drifting towards heavy use of Augmented Reality. The growth potential and audience reach of Augmented Reality is vast, and our generation is very lucky to witness its increasing utilization in our daily lives for the first time.
What’s the Big Deal About Augmented Reality?
Augmented Reality, or AR, in short, bridges the gap between our real and digital worlds. It can deliver 3D experiences and contextual information via the geolocation feature of our smartphones. The use of these two layers allows Augmented Reality apps to provide the users a truly immersive and rich user experience.
What’s in the Future for AR?
If you look closely at the recent developments in the field of AR, it’s easy to predict that the future holds plenty of opportunities for AR to improve our daily lives.
Just think how far we have come with voice recognition technology as compared to the once infuriating IVRS (interactive voice-response systems) that have been in use since the 90s and you will quickly realize the scale of growth in AR.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that AR is expected to hit the 3.5 billion mark for its user base and generate close to $90 billion in revenue by 2022, as predicted by a recent research study.
How Voice-Driven Apps are Evolving with AR
According to the findings shared by CampaignLive in one of their studies, 40% of adults use voice-search at least once a day. Voice-search apps have demonstrated an exponential growth over the last couple of years and notably, they are slowly and gradually creeping into every facet of our daily lives.
As AR algorithms evolve, we will soon be able to interact with our smart devices and appliances almost in a similar way as we would chat with a friend. If you don’t believe this, check out the long list of smart devices that allow us to control the appliances, cars and even our homes with just our voice. Voice-driven assistants such as Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant have almost become household names in this space.
Voice-Search Becomes an Integral Part of Popular Mobile Apps
Most progress taking place in the arena of mobile app development these days is around voice-search-compatibility. For example, in a restaurant finder app, the user should be able to speak into the phone/watch and say, “Restaurants near me” and the app should be able to display the in-app results instantly.
Shopping with Voice-Search-Based Apps
Yes, don’t be surprised if voice shopping becomes mainstream in the coming years. There are a number of apps that are implementing this feature as we speak, including a smart shopping list app “hiku” that can recognize your voice, scan barcodes, create lists and even remember your brand preferences. It can also check product availability in nearby stores.
It goes without saying, when it comes to shopping, the most popular e-commerce platforms are in favor of innovation and the voice-search feature is going to be commonly used across all major shopping platforms.
Make Transactions with Voice Recognition Support
The next big leap for voice-driven technology is the widespread acceptance of voice and facial recognition as a replacement for electronic passwords.
Many banking giants such as HSBC, Barclays, and Santander have utilized voice-recognition technology in their apps. Voice recognition is able to support a much more secure form of banking since our voices are quite unique.
By authenticating the user with the help of voice biometrics, businesses can allow their customers to access what they want right away while still using a reliable two-factor verification.
Final Thoughts
With rapid advances in technology and the way gadgets, smartphones, and wearables have become a part of our lives, many unimaginable tasks have now become possible. Having said this, it’s quite evident that augmented reality and voice-search are the kind of features that have risen in demand when it comes to mobile apps.
Smartphone users of the day expect an immersive experience, which is why implementing voice-search and augmented reality functionality has become the norm in the arena of mobile app development.
