Augmented Reality: Printing Supercharged

that most AR experiences would not exist without the presence of a printed piece to scan from. As long as printing is a key element of this technology, then printers of all kinds (especially in-plants) can —and should— insert themselves in the middle of this new content deployment wave.

Don’t Ignore the Opportunity

Not all that long ago, the world of print slowly started to acknowledge that content delivery was being offered on all channels (omnichannel), as clients chose alternatives such as e-books, videos, interactive apps and live content websites. We can’t ignore that omni­channel delivery is here to stay.

Augmented Reality makes it easier for printers to be part of this big industry shift. Better yet, AR is now bringing this evolution full circle as it brings the spotlight back to the printed piece, which acts as the starting point for a digital content experience. The quicker we acknowledge it and start thinking in these terms, the more relevant our print services can continue to be for our organizations.

Embrace the Challenge

Even with the great potential of Augmented Reality, it is important to recognize that we are in an early adoption stage of the technology. One of the key challenges you will encounter is the fact that not many people have heard of AR and even fewer have any of the relevant apps installed on their mobile devices.

Instead of being discouraged by this, try to embrace the challenge and keep working on your outreach efforts, focusing on releasing as many projects as you can. The more AR experiences out there, the more you can educate your audience about the availability of this new channel.

Take each project with research in mind, learning about each interaction and making yourself available to hear what users have to say about the deployment. Go beyond the cool factor and be on the lookout to understand if the AR piece you just delivered is truly valuable to your clients and their users or if it’s just a novelty experience. Take each experience as a building block in order to ensure that each subsequent project will be even more valuable for all parties involved.

Above all, remember that by embracing AR early you’ll be able to start offering added value to your printed pieces right from the start of any given project. Keep in mind that if you don’t take the initiative yourself, someone else inside (or outside!) your organization certainly will.