How the introduction of AR technology is affecting one the most competitive industrial field

Augmented reality is changing the daily approach to different kinds of industries and the automotive, railway and mobility industries are certainly among these ones. 

With the advent of AR, several companies are enhancing their productivity and realizing better quality products. The necessity of a more efficient productive flow and the possibility of having constant assistance is primary in the automotive industry, making it one of the top industrial applications of this innovative technology.

At the moment, the branch that is mostly touched by this transformation is the retail. That’s why the industry, in order to fully benefit of AR technology, is investing in solutions that can assist companies during the design stages of the car.

Design stage

The AR ability to combine reality with digital content, makes it much easier to design new models, since it is no longer necessary to produce new models or variants by hand, but the system will automatically create them for you. Technicians, in fact, can see the car model in the different colours available in no time.

For example, in Germany, car companies are already using AR devices while projecting a car, to virtually integrate different engine variants into a chassis.

Obviously, all these new ways of designing cars allow companies to save time and development costs.

“Augmented” salesman

As we previously said, augmented reality is now mostly used in sales activities. Using AR in the showroom, in fact, is believed to be the sales technique of the future.

For example, salespeople can now let customers project and see their cars with any kind of customization, even when the requested model, with those specific features, is not available in the showroom. 

In this way, clients are able to “see” additional information about every option available, just using what they already have in their pocket: a smartphone with a camera. 

Clients may order their 100% customized car, after having seen how the requested model will look like through the AR Apps. 

The continuous integration of this technology into the reality of car dealerships is helping to create the perfect multi-channel experience customers want.

AR at his best

But the most interesting application of augmented reality in the automotive industry, is part of the after-sales market.

In the future AR will be able to help developers and car repairers giving an advanced, prompt and remote service assistance. 

Thanks to the use of AR devices, technicians can have real-time projections that will make them faster during the interventions, such as the exact sequence of procedures they need to follow or the equipment needed to complete the work.

Wearable hands-free devices, as the one we created (Kiber 3), could be very useful in spotting problems and in the identification of engine parts, during car manufacturing and maintenance.

Speaking of maintenance, augmented reality makes it possible for customers to choose between two possibility:

• Address to qualified technicians, who will be assisted by AR technology during each step of the intervention

Or

• Independently perform the basic maintenance of the car, thanks to the support of AR tools, avoiding going to the car mechanic and probably saving some time and money.

In fact, augmented reality will make it possible even for the most unskilled car owner to confidently take action in the basic maintenance of its car. 

Read also: 3 ways to apply augmented reality for the industrial enterprise

Conclusion

The automotive sector has always been characterized by a great attention to innovation and technological development.

Nowadays, the main investors in the industry are putting their resources in the development of augmented reality solutions that are believed to be the future of this production field. 

The increase of efficiency, the creation of better and more individual products and the new ways of addressing customers, are just some of the huge advantages that the sector is already having from the augmented reality application.

And considering the future trends, who knows which new perspectives AR will open up for the automotive industry.