Augmented reality for usage in retail has already had some promising pilots such as the lego-case. In this case a small kid holds up a box of lego in front of a camera. On the screen he sees whats in the box.
The future is (fashion) retail is shown in a humorous way by Cisco. In the video a vision of the near future, ca 2015, is made on use of augmented reality in fashion retail stores.
In the video a very high-tech version (shrinking clothes to fit, and modelled in 3D) of augmented reality is shown. Combined with mobile payments. Although this may seem to be farfetched for many retailers, mobile payments are already very real. See www.myorder.nl for instance.
At the present a 2D version of augmented reality fit for fashion retail is available. Focussed on e-commerce customers, and combining social media aspects such as contact with facebook-friends where you can ask advice on your new (potential) new clothing.
The future is already very near for (broad) commercial use of augmented reality in retail. Forecasts, including Gartners hypecycle, state that it will be commercially usable within 2 – 4 years.
Very interesting and challenging have arrived for (fashion) retailers. New possibilities to connect with the customer, and the challenge of chosing and enabling available technologies in a timely and efficient way.
