Augmented Reality Companies to Watch Out for in the Future

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that means mixed reality in which there is an overlap between a reality that is extended and a computer-generated reality. AR combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content ranges from numerous sensory modalities which include

a. Visual- Computer graphics generated naturally via a screen.

b. Auditory- Experience created through various audio outputs.

c. Haptic- Achieved through exploration of surfaces and objects by a moving subject.

d. Somatosensory- It produces the perception of touch as well as temperature and body position.

e. Olfactory- It creates a sense of smell.

Augmented reality can be described as a system that includes three basic characteristics: 

The experience is smoothly blended with the physical world. Augmented reality changes one's continuous perception of a real-world environment, whereas VR changes the user's real-world environment with a simulated one. Augmented reality is used to either visually alter the natural environment or to deliver extra information to users.

Augmented reality can be delivered in various formats, including smartphones, tablets, and glasses. Contact lenses that are supported by AR are also being developed. The technology needs hardware parts, such as processors, sensors, displays, and input devices. Smartphones already have this hardware available with sensors including cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS), and compasses. This enables AR to be more accessible to the regular user. A GPS is utilized to specify the user's location, and its compass is used to detect device orientation. 

Augmented reality continues to evolve and become more widespread among a vast range of applications. Since the beginning, technological and marketing companies have had to fight the image that augmented reality is more than a marketing device. 

However, there is a lot more proof now that customers are starting to drive actual benefits from this technology. Experts have also guessed that devices that are wearable could be a step forward for augmented reality. Mobile phones and tablets show a small part of the landscape but smart eyewear can provide a complete link between real and virtual reality which can help to make AR more mainstream.

Ten AR companies to watch out for in 2022 - :

1) Nvidia

Nvidia is developing the technology to build customer experiences in the metaverse. A metaverse is an open place where you can move your avatar, digital property, and currency around with you to whatever VR world you want to visit. Nvidia’s new inventive Omniverse platform allows designers from various companies to use diverse tools to transfer and sync 3D graphics using a Pixar-developed technology called Universal Scene Description (USD). The powerful Nvidia graphics cards can be linked together on different servers. Omniverse could ultimately be operated as an open medium through numerous creators using different tools.

2) Immersal

Immersal is one of the AR to watch out for, because its technology uses augmented reality in a manner we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago. With the help of Immersal, a company can map any physical space into the digital world and execute AR in that physical space to provide an immersive experience. Immersal has widened its services to the manufacturing, retail, public, and gaming sectors. With an AR-enabled device, users can view an AR layer over the actual physical spaces to get instant information. Recently Hexagon AB has also acquired this company as a fully-owned subsidiary.

3) LiveMap- Augmented Reality For Non-Vehicles

Augmented Reality can be implemented in helmets for E-Scooters. Their main features include displaying projected photos with important features of the road like speed, distance, and custom alerts as well as incoming calls. LiveMap is a startup that shows precision and accurate photos of the projected details, The weather conditions do not matter. Because of the training in different weather conditions, their helmet or safety gear remains correct even in inadequate visibility. Thus, enhancing the safety level and providing the rider with access to GPS routes, speed, customizable alerts, etc.

4) The Intellify

Intellify offers Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, WebAR, AR filters, and 3D Modeling and Animation, all these services to companies to improve their client experience and bring AR and VR into their industry. Intellify is an app development startup that creates feature-heavy custom apps for a broad range of companies. The Intellify’s growth rate has been one of the best among other AR startups in India. The whole range of services that the corporation delivers gives the startup its competitive advantage in the market. The Intellify’s early clients have been from the manufacturing and healthcare sectors but going ahead, more industries can join its clientele as AR adoption continues its growth in 2022.

5) SightCall

SightCall’s augmented reality tool lets client service offer real-time video service with digital graphics to distant customers. Customers indicate their cameras in concerned areas, then SightCall uses AR and artificial intelligence to navigate them through the actions needed to solve their problem. The company has also launched SightCall Digital Flows, a self-service option that lets consumers access AR service sessions scheduled to resolve typical issues without the help of a customer service representative. Big companies are also now using SightCall’s products to combine with customers, including L’Oréal, GE Healthcare, and Jaguar Land Rover. The organization says it has 300 enterprise consumers around the globe, serving more than 3 million clients with video assistance calls every year. To complete the need of multinational establishments SightCall introduced live speech interpreters and real-time AI speech translations to help customers all over the globe.

6) LucidWeb

LucidWeb has grown very fast among all the other international AR-VR startups. Its client list includes big names like Apple iOS, Android, and Google Cardboard. LucidWeb supplies a multi-device AR/VR experience to its customers and promises WebXR features available through a browser. The startup also produces immersive content using interactive hotspots. LucidWeb specializes in VR celebrations, 360-degree virtual tours, WebAR, and remote education. Presently, it works in the tourism, journalism, and storytelling sectors. But LucidWeb’s technology can grow into different industries as well as more firms start financing multi-device AR-VR solutions.

7) Holographic- Holographic Navigation Systems

WayRay helps in paying continuous attention and looking out to the road by obtaining all the essential details about different places. Mapping is feasible with augmented reality via holographic navigation systems. They incorporate the virtual world into the real world to deliver continuous localization and mapping. WayRay adds augmented reality to the path to show drivers the same direction which can be changed simultaneously during the car’s movements and interaction with other cars. It uses holographic optical features that result in the AR projection on the windshield.

8) Scanta

The company Scanta started work with AR in 2016 and their headquarter is in the United States. The other services provided include Machine Learning security methods and products to help consumers counter Machine Learning safety threats in their computer systems. Their VA Security system covers virtual assistant chatbots from machine learning attacks. Scanta has worked with institutions such as Google and Apple to make AR emojis for their products. AR Emojis were being used to include AR characters in the video making. It was the world’s first AR Emoji app. It authorized the users to share while conveying their feelings and operate special avatars to investigate the world of augmented reality. Their 3D avatars are even available on the Unity store.

9) Next Now Agency

Next Now Agency provides AR experiences to its customers along with projection mapping, motion and gesture technology, and 3D animations. The variety of its services will hold the Next Now Agency ahead in 2022. It has already employed a team of brand architects and game developers. The company is ingrained in the AR cause and keeps it as one of its top services.

10) CitrusBits

CitrusBits develops apps and UI/UX for mobile, android, and iOS. It has so far built more than 300 apps for various consumers. They also designed virtual reality and augmented reality apps and blockchain apps for companies. Some of their customers include Burger King, Quiksilver, and Jobflare.

AR is the future because Augmented Reality companies are growing with the surge in mobile-based AR and the decline in the pricing of smartphones that support AR. AR companies are in content production and branding classified as development, or those that create AR platforms, experiences, and content.