As we travel to unfamiliar territory, we place an enormous amount of trust on our navigation systems, whether that be Google Maps, Waze, or Apple Maps. With this said, think about how much can be improved. For example, you happen to get lost even with GPS guidance or you get routed to an old location because the maps aren’t updated. Or maybe the navigation you are looking for is off the grid. This leaves you frustrated, confused, and late to your event.
As augmented reality continues to take off, we can see how useful it would be in our daily lives–especially in navigation. Benefits of using AR for routing outweigh any hesitations so we’ll describe the major advantages:
Time-Saving
Whether you get lost or your GPS takes you the longest route, you are bound to lose time. Applications with augmented reality features help to pave the best possible route to your destination. Such applications can provide data on traffic jams in real-time and would save you from being late.
User-Friendly
A virtual path or virtual markers would be present in an augmented reality navigation system–making it easier for the user to control and follow. Many applications are also adding graphics to entertain and guide the user to their destination. With the addition of virtual objects overlaid on the real world, the possibilities are endless. Alerts, markers, information, and directions could all be AR-ified to make the navigation process much easier.
Tourist and Educational Uses
Let’s say you’re in a beautiful new town or historical site–the AR app with a routing feature would display information about the particular cultural site. Museums and exhibit halls could take advantage of AR technology to add an interactive education component to their site. By combining the real world with interactive technologies, users and tourists alike would be more engaged.
Overall, AR is able to significantly improve the navigation experience and make it more efficient. Navigation is an essential part of our daily lives, and soon we will wonder how we were able to live without it.