A “magic mirror” device for children offers fun educational experience.

Augmented reality (AR) technology can be fun and educational and Chinese Shenzen-based company Xiaoxi Technology is combining both these aspects in its new Miraffe “all-knowing magic mirror.” Miraffe is a yellow, hand-held mirror-shaped device with a giraffe-inspired design (including a giraffe spotted handle as well as ears, knobs and eyes on top of the bezel). The AR tech has been specifically created for children and features a phone-sized screen and a front-facing camera, which recognizes objects and links animated characters with the real world, providing children with educational apps and the ability to video chat with parents.

Miraffe can do more than recognize and name objects

The device can recognize everyday objects, such as a phone and calculator, according to Variety, and it can also spell the word for each object it recognizes in both English and Chinese. According to a spokesperson from the company, presently, Miraffe has a 60 to 70% accuracy object recognition rate. While impressive to say the least, there is still room for improvement.

That being said, the device does more than simply name objects. It also comes with numerous interactive AR cards that are both fun and educational. These picture paper cards feature various animals such as tigers, fish, zebra, etc., which can be viewed by the Miraffe’s camera, and appear as 3D animated images through the screen. The user can obtain a life-like 360 degree view of the 3D animals by tapping and dragging the animals on the screen.

Miraffe offers a more affordable and less complicated approach to AR tech.

Although Miraffe’s augmented reality approach isn’t exactly unique, what makes it notable is that it is an AR device designed specifically for children and, as Variety puts it, has opened up “a middle ground between general purpose mobile phones and expensive headsets or glasses.”

Instead of requiring an expensive and complex gadget to make augmented reality work, Miraffe has shown that it can be done with a simple toy that is fun for children and easy for them to use.

Currently, Xiaoxi Technology is running a Kickstarter campaign for Miraffe, which is selling a limited number of the devices for $99. However, the company intends to sell its AR tech device for a suggested retail price of $300 later this year.

The retail sector is expected to dominate digital advertising spending from now to 2020.

According to the most recent forecast from New York-based market research company eMarketer, retailers – who already invest the most in online and mobile ad spending – are going to spend the most on digital advertising in the United States through 2020; spending an estimated $23.04 billion in paid digital media ads. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent over a period of five years.

Digital ad spending is forecasted to surpass TV ad spending in 2017.

This year, alone, the market research company predicts that retail marketers will pay $15.09 billion in digital ads, which is a 15 percent jump from last year and accounts for 22% of online ad spending in the US.

Aside from retailers, eMarketer’s estimates show that the automotive industry will remain the second largest digital ad spender through 2020, with car marketers potentially spending $8.7 billion on digital ads in the US in 2016 and up to $14.14 billion by 2020.

Following the automotive industry is financial services, which is forecasted to invest $8.37 billion in 2016 and $12.4 billion by 2020. Taking the fourth and fifth largest digital ad spender spots is Telecom and consumer packaged goods, respectively.

With the digital ad spending growth expected to continue, eMarketer predicts that next year, companies will spend more money on digital ads than TV advertisements.

An estimated two-thirds of retailers’ digital ad budgets have shifted to mobile ad spending.

This year, approximately $10.09 billion of retailers’ digital ad budgets have shifted to mobile. In order to keep up with online shoppers, eMarketer forecasts that retailers will boost their mobile ad spending by 52 percent in 2016, which is up from their 2015 budgets.

This jump in mobile advertising investment for this year does not come as much of a surprise as more and more consumers are engaging in mobile shopping. According to Forrester Research, by 2018, mobile commerce will account for over 50 percent of all e-commerce transactions.

That being said, currently, not all US mobile users are entirely comfortable with the full shopping and buying experience over their mobile devices, with many finding the experience frustrating. Still, buying aside, mobile has completely altered how consumers conduct their pre-purchase research.

Mobile commerce is projected to grow both in the US and globally, which is motivating retailers and other industries to not only focus on shelling out for digital ad spending but mobile ad spending, too.