Augmented Reality is coming, you should prepare

For some of you, the thought of using augmented or virtual reality glasses would seem like a star trek adventure. Fast track only a few years and I believe everyone will have a pair of VR goggles in his or her home.

From buying clothes, viewing rental properties, selecting classy restaurants, view a friend's wedding or even riding the Melbourne cup. VR/AR are about to transform our lives just in the same format the smartphone did over 10years ago.

You have already seen the AR craze with Pokemon GO. In short, AR is a way to use technology to redefine space, and it places a virtual layer over the world with geographic specificity ensuring a good fit. For example in real life, a woman may be holding what appears to be a simple box of LEGOs. But when seen through an AR viewer, the box comes to life, serving as a platform for a beautiful carousel. It's not that you're imagining things — AR uses computer animation to bring objects to life.

To create a VR experience you only need to combine your smartphone with a pair of VR goggles (average price $20). If you want a pair let me know.

But how will it be used in business

1. Urban Exploration

 AR apps let you filter by category so you can find exactly what you're looking for, whether it's a coffee shop, restaurant or museum. And you won't need to worry about getting turned around by the map — the AR app will adapt based on what you're facing, so it'll tell you to turn right and get you to your destination, as opposed to just indicating that you should walk northeast (how are you supposed to know which way is northeast?). This kind of AR app already exists — check out Nokia's City Lens, Wikitude and Metaio's Junaio and there are more to come.

2. Museum

Ditching the standard audio tour, A British Museum used AR hot spots that offered more information on all its art pieces. Using Longitude, Latitude, Altitude to navigate indoors, A visitor could walk up to nearly any painting in any museum and the [AR] recognition will work on it, giving a browser like experience.

3. Shopping

Augmented reality lets you browse a virtual catalogue of clothes from your favourite brands, shop directly magazine (see video), or head to a virtual pop-up store and avoid the lines.Augmented reality is going to radically change the shape of commerce , AR could turn places as mundane as parks and airports into shopping destinations, which would be a great way to kill time (and a smart way for businesses to save money on commercial real estate). If there's no Myer or David Jones in your city, AR could change that, and you could browse the stores virtually, using your phone.

You can even see how clothes look on your own body - Crazy isn't it :)

4. Travel

With AR/VR you can go anywhere and NOW.

If you're looking for budget "travel" options or a quick "getaway," you could find a solution in augmented reality. Just plop the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa right in your backyard and unlock monuments during a sort of virtual vacation, and you could learn about each one as you go. I recently dived the Great Barrier Reef again last night from my office.

5.Moving & Decorating Your Home

IKEA has already started building AR into their suite of sales funnel. Simply take a photo of your room and start incorporating IKEA furniture. It's like trying before buying. (IKEA VR Video, see Video)

6.Staff Training

I have been recording on screen videos for years as part of my recruitment process. We all know how much time and cost it is to train new staff members. AR/VR can fix this, by giving the new staff a life like experience of their required tasks. It's one thing to explain verbally, but it's a lot more effective to show visually from a point of vision of an experienced staff member.

Plus if required new staff can watch the task, over and over again if required.

Have a think about how you can incorporate VR/AR into your business, I would be interested to know your ideas.

I've just purchased my 1st VR camera to start filming in 2 weeks and incorporating into websites.