Augmented Reality
in Business
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 2
Empower employees and customers with the world’s largest platform for augmented reality (AR). Apple hardware and
software are designed from the ground up for the best possible AR experience. AR on iPhone and iPad powers workflows
that were never before possible.
What is augmented reality?
AR places information in the world in a highly visual and contextual
way, enabling more connected and productive work. Because AR
maintains a real-world view on the device, it takes experiences beyond
the screen and provides entirely new opportunities for employees to
interact, communicate, and get work done.
Why augmented reality in business?
AR improves and even redefines how employees and customers
complete tasks that are challenging or expensive—or even physically
impossible—with greater efficiency and enhanced productivity.
Businesses are seeing incredible benefits from AR in a wide range
of use cases:
Enhanced visualization
Use visual overlays and lifelike content to increase
productivity.
Better communication
Enable faster decision-making and improve service
with shared AR content and experiences.
Remote expertise
Support work without being onsite. Reduce shipping
and travel expenses.
Improved service
Replace old processes and bring life to new ones. Reduce
service time and improve communication with customers.
Flexible training
Guide employees more efficiently onsite or enable
employees to train from wherever they are.
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 3
Requirements for great AR
It takes a lot to create AR experiences—from powerful cameras
and motion sensors to integrated software.
Advanced cameras enable users to see their
environment.
Motion sensors detect movement and position with
greataccuracy and speed.
Powerful processors and machine learning create
realisticand interactive scenes.
Immersive displays provide AR experiences in
brilliant detail.
Apple’s integrated software development kit supports AR
and provides a powerful set of tools to develop the best
AR experiences.
All of these components are seamlessly integrated for the best AR
experiences on iPhone and iPad—right out of the box.
iPad Pro + LiDAR
The new iPad Pro is built for AR with advanced technologies:
• Wide and Ultra Wide rear cameras and the TrueDepth front-facing
camera capture high-quality images and video from all angles.
• The new LiDAR Scanner increases spatial understanding with
cutting-edge depth-sensing capabilities for AR.
• New depth frameworks in iPadOS combine data from cameras and
motion sensors for a more detailed understanding of AR scenes.
• The A12Z Bionic chip with the Neural Engine handles trillions of
operations per second to power seamless AR interactions.
• The Liquid Retina display brings AR experiences to lifelike levels of
realism and interaction.
• Four-speaker audio and studio-quality mics are built in for using
voice and accurate audio input in AR scenes.
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 4
Augmented Reality
in Action
Explore some of the key benefits
AR brings to business in a range of areas,
fromservices to training and sales.
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 5
Service and maintenance
Enable employees to provide remote expertise and remote assistance with AR. Move projects forward and provide
services that would otherwise require multiple site visits and product shipments.
Tea mV iewer Pil ot
View on the App Store >
An onsite technician provides information to an
expert in a remote location using TeamViewer
Pilot. To guide the onsite technician, the remote
expert places annotations on equipment in the
real world. This kind of AR-powered workflow
can reduce travel to sites and increase fix rates.
Remote technical expertise
•
Improve service time
•
Reduce site visits
•
Communicate in real time
•
Increase fix rates
Real-time operations and
maintenance
•
Speed up inventory search
•
Improve decision-making
•
Reduce errors
•
Accelerate turnaround time
Streem Interactive Video Calls
View on the App Store >
The Streem app facilitates remote consulting and
service with spacial understanding provided by
LiDAR. Customers create a detailed 3D map of their
space using the LiDAR Scanner on iPad Pro. This
3Dmap allows a remote consultant to take detailed
measurements of the space and snap appliances
into place, reducing site visits. Customers see the
models in their own space so they know exactly
what their choice will look like in their home.
Remote consulting
•
Accurately understand project need and space
•
Improve communications
•
Create fluid workflows
•
Reduce travel and site visits
•
Improve service
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 6
Design and consulting
Whether your business designs buildings, products, or provides consulting services, AR can be a powerful tool for
enabling faster decision-making, reducing costs, and increasing customer engagement.
Shapr3D CAD modeling
View on the App Store >
Architects and designers can use Shapr3D on
iPad Pro with LiDAR to create a depth map of
a room, then export a dimensionally accurate
floorpan and 3D model in CAD.* This reduces
time-consuming surveys and additional
onsitevisits.
*Available this fall.
Architecture and design services
•
Eliminate site surveys
•
Quickly share accurate models
•
Improve decision-making
•
Keep projects moving forward offsite
Vuforia Chalk
View on the App Store >
The remote guidance experience inVuforia Chalk
combines live video, audio, and the ability for both
the remote and local participant to annotate their
live shared view. Onscreen annotations in Vuforia
Chalk accurately stickto real-world objects,
even as participants move.
Product design and production
services
•
Create more efficient workflows
•
Make decisions quickly
•
Reduce travel and shipping
•
Improve communications
iScape
View on the App Store >
With iScape, consultants choose landscaping
options for clients, use AR to place designs in
an environment—like the above flower bed—
then share them remotely. Seeing content
inthe real world provides context available
onlyinAR.
Landscape design
•
Improve client workflow
•
Increase motivation to purchase
with realistic designs
•
Enable better decision-making with
content placed in the real world
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 7
Training and collaboration
Provide more flexible training and collaboration tools to improve technical instruction, employee collaboration, real-time
guidance, and employee onboarding.
Splunk AR
View on the App Store >
The Splunk AR app provides AR overlays of
back-end data in real time, enabling more
flexible, productive services and training, and
reducing time-consuming paperwork. Customers
use Splunk AR to monitor and service a range
of Splunk appliances and dashboards, and
instructors can access what’s most important
in a training scenario—right in the moment.
Real-time training
•
Make training engaging and interactive
•
See issues in the moment
•
Reduce time searching for information in manuals
•
Free instructor and student to focus on
what’simportant
Tec h Tra ine r
In this SAP demo app, AR enhances training
through shared experiences, where multiple
users interact within the same AR scene for
asset maintenance. Actions on the instructor’s
iPad are mirrored on the employee’s iPad, which
is helpful for walking through complex topics
and providing the employee with a realistic
visual of the actual equipment.
Technical training, multiuser
•
Improve communication via shared AR
•
Easily provide real-time feedback
•
Interact with hard-to-reach equipment
•
Visualize complex topics in action
Medical training
•
Interpret actions in the real world with
motion tracking and overlays
•
See progress in the moment
•
Understand progress over time
•
Easily train colleagues
Complete Anatomy
View on the App Store >
Complete Anatomy uses motion tracking and
AR overlays to interpret a patient’s movements,
and makes the invisible visible by showing the
viewer which muscles are being engaged. A
practitioner or user can track recovery progress,
and the app can interpret the movements—
helpful to both a patient and doctor, both in the
moment and over time.
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 8
Merchandising and inventory
Quickly see inventory and sales data in the moment to reduce back-of-house trips and increase time with customers.
Use photorealistic AR content to enable new customer and employee experiences.
Shoe Planogram
This proof-of-concept app is an interactive
planogram that uses AR to show stock levels in
the moment. It also reduces employee trips to
the back of house, creating a better customer
experience and ultimately better service.
AR can also enhance operational efficiency
for guiding and checking floor setups like this
shoe wall.
Interactive planogram
•
Set up displays more accurately
•
Easily see stock availability and trends while
working with customers
•
Spend more time with customers by reducing
back-of-house trips
Endless Aisle
Another powerful component of AR is photo-
realistic objects. This retail demo allows an
employee or customer to place and compare
products in a highly realistic way. Because
objects are so lifelike, users can reach a
decision that previously could be done only in
person. Photo-realistic 3D content is also a
powerful tool for product designers.
Retail sales
•
Place and compare products in highly
realistic ways
•
Improve decision-making
•
Increase customer engagement
whereverthey are
Scandit Barcode Scanner
View on the App Store >
Scandit uses AR for enhanced visualization
of back-end data to improve inventory
management, logistics, sales use cases, and
ticketing, and can inspire new workflows as
well. In this example, a quick scan of items
with the camera reveals items the employee
islooking for, greatly speeding up back-of-
house tasks.
Inventory management
•
Quickly see items received using AR overlays
•
Complete back-of-house tasks more efficiently
•
Speed up inventory processes so employees
can spend more time with customers
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 9
Bringing augmented reality
to your organization
Augmented Reality in Business | Spring 2020 10
To discover which business lines and workflows can benefit most, start high-level conversations with your teams and
stakeholders. Consider the entire value chain, it’s possible to bring AR to any part of it, and you can start from anywhere—
support, training, sales, or design. Once key workflows are identified, determine the top use cases.
Get started creating AR experiences
It’s easy to get your teams started creating AR experiences. You
can make use of the 3D content your organization already has or
build a custom AR app.
Using 3D content
Your design and marketing teams may already have 3D content in
common file formats. These files can be converted using Reality
Converter—a simple conversion tool on Mac that converts common
3D file formats into a preferred format called USDZ.
Once converted, it’s simple to bring 3D content into AR experiences on
the web, in messages, and in email with Quick Look—no app required.
AR Quick Look
Built-in apps on iPhone and iPad—such as Safari, Messages, Mail,
News, and Notes—use Quick Look to display USDZ files of virtual
objects in 3D or AR. You can embed Quick Look views in apps and
websites to let users see AR objects in real-world surroundings.
Safari
Tap an AR object right
from Safari.
Messages
See AR objects in Business
Chat or Messages.
Mail
See attached USDZ
files right from email.
.obj
.gltf
.fbx
.abc
3D content
Reality Converter
.usdz files
AR on iPad requires iOS 11 or later and iPad (5th generation or later) or iPad Pro (any model).
© 2020 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPad, iPadOS, iPad Pro, iPhone, Mac, Retina, and Safari are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and
other countries. IOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Product specifications are
subject to change without notice. This material is provided for information purposes only; Apple assumes no liability related to its use. June 2020
Building apps
Use powerful developer tools to create the best AR experiences.
Developers can get started building AR apps with three basic
tools—Xcode, ARKit, and RealityKit.
Xcode is the integrated development environment for
building apps across Apple platforms. With Xcode, you
can manage the entire development workflow—from
creating an app to testing and publishing it.
ARKit is a framework that combines visual information
from cameras with motion features to support advanced
capabilities like collaboration, multiple face tracking, and
simultaneous use of front and backcameras.
RealityKit leverages information from ARKit to integrate
virtual objects into the real world seamlessly. It’s the
AR engine that makes AR development faster and easier
by providing photo-realistic rendering, camera effects,
animations, physics, and more.
Moving forward with AR
AR on iPad and iPhone provides an incredible new set of tools
andopportunities for businesses of all sizes. Connect with your
teams to spark interest and provide a sense of what’s possible
inyour organization. Now’s the time to think big and ask how can
ARredefine your business. Apple products can help bring your
ideastolife.
Resources
• apple.com/augmented-reality
• developer.apple.com/augmented-reality
• developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/quick-look
• apple.com/ipad-pro