There is no denying the appeal of XR, augmented and virtual reality technology appears to be the future.

IKEA, Snap-City Painter, Gucci, Walmart are some of the companies investing in AR, rising today and shows no signs of falling in the near future.

At its core, AR changes our view of our physical world by overlaying computer-generated information on top of our physical space. This technology is incredibly powerful in an ecommerce setting where physical context is extremely important, providing consumers true utilitarian value. 

Everytime i meet companies who are interested in investing in XR, they are wondering the same thing. Will I need to design the holograms of all my products in order to display them in Augented reality?

The answer is NO. If you already have all your products designed in Autocad or any other computer-aided design and drafting software like Blender, then you already have all your products to be displayed as holograms. Even though you need to adopt a couple of design practices for the 3d model to be supported as hologram, you can work with different meshes, textures, sounds and video. Here is a list of some of them.

Does Autodesk Inventor convert my designs to holograms?

Autodesk has a product called “CAD-TO-AR Inventor”. The main features enable the user to integrate 3d models into the Inventor UI, position a model with a QR code, select and track a submodel, view Inventor 3D models in AR, take screenshots of the AR scene, resize, rotate, and move the model, as well as undo and redo model manipulations in AR. This is an amazing option if you have an autodesk account and you only want to share one product to someone specific, but if you want to distribute a mobile, Oculus, Hololens or a webXR site application then this application is not enough for you.

Is it expensive to invest in XR (Augmented reality or Virtual reality) applications?

I always advise customers to think of investing in XR as it would be to invest in the development of a website or a mobile application. The biggest challenge you probably have is the 3d modeling of your products but if you already have your products design in AUTOCAD you already have an important investment made. So… the window of opportunity is wide open. Augmented reality experience allow shoppers to virtually try on, personalize or visualize products—from clothing to shoes to makeup to furniture—have the potential to change the social commerce game for brands targeting tech-savvy consumer demographics.

The option is also open for those companies that have more advanced designs such as buildings or automobiles, there is today technology that allows high-quality holograms to be displayed on different devices.
If you still have doubts about how to advance in this wonderful world of innovation, please do not hesitate to contact me, it is a personal challenge to support those companies that wish to invest in their future in XR.