Author: JT

Augmented reality vehicle display unveiled by Pioneer

| July 3, 2013

Developers from the company have now revealed the latest AR tech for cars instead of mobile gaming.

Though augmented reality is rapidly finding its place in areas such as mobile marketing, gaming, and other forms of entertainment, Pioneer has just unveiled a display that uses the technology which would be used in vehicles.

This technology mounts an LCD screen right onto the dash of a vehicle, where its navigation and stereo are traditionally located.

The augmented reality technology also uses a camera that would be located behind the vehicle’s rearview mirror. This allows an augmented reality effect to be created, where an image is projected onto the windshield overtop of the actual view.

This augmented reality display also relies on lasers to create “floating” images over the real view.

The images look as though they are floating a few feet in front of the vehicle’s position, even though they are actually simply projected onto the windshield’s screen. This trick gives the viewer the feeling that they are seeing graphics that are outside the vehicle, even though they are simply projections on screens above, where the sun visors would typically be positioned.

This trick is not only interesting and fascinating to many, Pioneer is saying that the augmented reality may actually help the driver in his or her experience behind the wheel. The display provides a great deal of information that all moves and interacts with the view of the road through the windshield. Arrows displayed on the screen help to make use of GPS guidance in order to lead a driver to his or her destination.

Furthermore, small balloons help to identify important areas that are approaching in the distance, such as restaurants, gas stations, and other locations. The camera can even allow the augmented reality technology to reinforce various other forms of information already visible, such as stop signs, traffic lights, yield signs and various other important forms of signage. The technology helps to provide these alerts in real time along with the view of what can actually be seen through the front window of the vehicle as it moves.

Mobile commerce growth in retail studied by Absolute Digital Media

| June 28, 2013

Research in the United Kingdom has shown that smartphone shopping is considerably on the rise.

Absolute Digital Media’s online marketers have conducted an analysis of eMarketer data and have discovered that mobile commerce sales in the United Kingdom are expected to make up 26.5 percent of overall online sales by 2017.

The company published a report that has provided a great deal of digital sales insight.

The article that was published was entitled “Mcommerce Takes 15% of UK Retail Ecommerce Sales”. What it showed was that digital sales, such as online and mobile commerce, in the United Kingdom, are making up a larger proportion of total retail sales than is the case in the majority of countries worldwide. It is expected that smartphone and tablet based sales, alone, are expected to reach £6.61 billion.

The research went on to reveal a great deal more about mobile commerce and its impact on shopping overall.

Mobile Commerce on rise in UKFor example, it was predicted that the sales would make up 11.5 percent of total British retail sales by the end of the year. This, compared with the 10.2 percent, which was the figure last year. eMarketer had predicted that among digital shoppers, 58.3 percent will browse or research the products that they are considering this year.

Using this data, the Absolute Digital Media marketers, who work at length in the retail sector, have looked more deeply into what the figures mean in a practical sense. In their article, they wrote that “The UK has always had relatively high online shopping rates, but it’s interesting to see such a sharp growth specifically in mobile sales. It highlights the importance for those in the retail industry to ensure their websites are optimized for mobile, smartphone and tablet devices in order to take advantage of this.”

The data from the eMarketer study has made it clear that there is a great deal of importance in retail for mobile commerce. This means that companies that wish to succeed will need to focus on making sure that they use the right marketing strategies and that they provide the right optimized online experience for people who are looking into products by way of their smartphones and tablets.