Augmented reality (AR) is having a huge impact on our daily lives. From healthcare to shopping, adding computer-generated images and graphics to the real world is changing the way we do things.
Augmented reality events enhance user experience by adding an immersive dimension. This can be done in several ways such as through tours and information about the venue, allowing people to attend virtually, or gamification which adds an element of fun to the event and helps to increase engagement.
The Role of Augmented Reality in Event Marketing
If you’re showcasing your business at an event, creating a memorable stand that catches attendee’s attention and makes them want to find out more, is key. Creating a stand that includes an immersive experience using AR technology is an exciting way to draw people in.
By using headsets or mobile apps, attendees can find out about your business in a way that’s likely to create a lasting memory for them. Mobile apps tend to be the most popular way of creating an immersive experience as they are easy to set up and don’t have the issue of multiple people using the same piece of equipment that headsets do.
Once you’ve identified the want, need, or problem you can solve for attendees, AR can be used to showcase your products or services or explain your business process in a way that catches attention and sticks in attendee’s minds.
Some Applications of Augmented Reality in Event Marketing:
Conferences
Whether your conference is taking place in person or online, AR can enhance attendee’s experience in many ways. It can be used to help them learn more about each other through virtual business cards which encourage interaction and networking. Augmented reality events can also show more detail about how brands work, or how their products solve a common problem. Experiencing this through a headset or app is more likely to create a lasting impression than being talked to about it or reading about it.
Brand Activations
Using augmented reality at events can help to build brand awareness. This can be done in a variety of ways from pop-up presentations to detailed product information that is relayed through graphics. It can be used to encourage people to share on social media that they’re at the event and like a particular brand or product. If that person’s followers like what they see, they’ll share too helping the brand to reach a much wider audience.
Using AR technology to create a more immersive experience for attendees is likely to mean that they remember the brand because they feel emotionally attached to it as a result of their experience. They are then more likely to take action and buy the product that solves the problem or need they have.
Sponsorship Activations
AR at events can create a lasting impression for sponsors by allowing them to create a memorable experience for attendees. This can be done by letting users experience their product, for example by being able to see the inside of a vehicle through an app or headset or being able to see what a product looks like on them. Again, this type of experience is likely to create a lasting impression and make consumers more likely to buy as a result of it.
Trade Shows
AR technology can take trade shows to a different level. Using augmented reality at events like these has several benefits. It helps exhibitors to make their booth stand out from the crowd making it easier to engage their audience through interactive content that demonstrates the product in action. This helps to create a buzz and get people talking about your brand.
The main benefit is that there’s no need for actual products to be available, which means less space is needed for each booth and enables complex, large, products that aren’t yet available to be showcased.
What is an Immersive Experience?
An immersive experience uses a mixture of sound, technology, and visuals to give the viewer the illusion that they are actually in another real or imagined world. They can then interact and manipulate this environment to experience a product or destination.
This type of experience is transportive as although you may be standing at a stand in a trade show, the energy, sights, and sounds take you to another place – the middle of a jungle or an Olympic stadium, for example. Here are some augmented reality examples that create immersive experiences:
Types of Immersive Experiences:
1. Tactile Immersion
By using the sense of touch through forces, pressure, and vibrations, tactile immersion happens when AR technology simulates the sensation of touching virtual objects or surfaces. Users can feel movements, shapes, and textures giving them a more realistic, immersive experience and a stronger connection to them and the virtual world.
2. Sight immersion
An eye processes and contextualises what it sees. For AR to have the same effect, the technology needs to adjust levels of data and visuals quickly as the user adjusts and moves their desired experience. So, for example, wearing a headset whilst watching a movie or playing a computer game that enables the user to become immersed in what they see.
3. Narrative Immersion
This happens, for example, when a player is so immersed in a game or event, that they have a compulsion to find out “what happens next” in a sequence of events through narrative. These are usually driven by story-based events that revolve around physical or emotional conflicts so perhaps progressing through a region of a video game or football simulation.
4. Revised 360-degree content
This type of AR solution acts as a 360-degree canvas which is all around the user, creating immersive experiences in their own surroundings. They can look in any direction and see the content, making it a great way to learn about a location or product, particularly if interactions are added so that clicking on an object makes things happen such as moving onto another scene.
5. Digital Twin
Digital twin technology is using data streams to create a digital representation of something in the real world. So, through a combination of data and simulation technology, software is used to build a virtual or digital twin of a physical object or process.
How can JBH Design help with your AR events?
Our team of experts can create augmented reality events that help your business stand out from the crowd. Immersive design is our speciality and we aim to exceed expectations with every project. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you embrace the power of AR to create memorable event experiences.
