Category Archives: AR

AR

Tech News 2024 – Everything You Need to Know in This Year

The 2010s were a fast-paced time for technology. It saw immense innovation that led to the growth in AI (artificial intelligence), data, and e-commerce among other advancements. The 2020s have seen more changes, making emerging technologies an important agenda for all decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and citizens. According to research, technology in the past decade has grown by over 1000% due to the advancements in tech. So, what are the best advancements this year, and how can you apply them? Read on to find out.

What Are the Top Tech News in 2024?

  1. AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Content

AI can generate high-quality and creative content including images, text, videos, and even music. This technology harnesses the power of GPT (Generative Pre-Trained Transformers) and DALL-E to comprehend and process content which resonates with your preferences.

Most AI content generators began with GPT-3, they have advanced to GPT-4 speeding up content creation and minimising costs. With these tools, small businesses can create content that aligns with their goals and campaigns.

  1. Expansion of 5G Networks

The fifth generation of mobile networks is here with us. It brings faster data downloads and upload speeds, especially for organisations transmitting huge data. Additionally, it has wider coverage and ensures stable connections.

With the expansion of 5G, users can now enjoy other technology including IoT, autonomous vehicles, and even augmented reality. This is because it comes with high speed and requires low latency. You don’t have to worry about any delays even when dealing with huge data sets.

  1. AR (Augmented Reality) in Retail

Augmented Reality (AR) is now used to place customer in real-life environments based on their personalisation preferences. This means that a shopper can see how a particular product fits in their own lives such as fitting a certain apparel, having a particular furniture piece in their home, or even building a particular type of house. It ensures customers have interactive experiences to improve customer satisfaction, which automatically breeds return customers.

  1. IoT (Internet of Things)

IoT comprises internet-connected devices that are inter-connected. These devices communicate with each other thus saving the user time and resources. For instance, if you are working in a smart office, most of the systems are interconnected to make the employees more comfortable. The interconnectivity could be linked with the air conditioning, heating and ventilation, and lighting among others.

At home, these smart devices such as speakers, lighting and security can be controlled from one single source. It could be a simple smart home app that relays information when your fridge is open, when your door is closed or open, or even turning lights on and off. The best thing about this is that you can easily access the systems on your smartphone regardless of where you are.

  1. Autonomous Vehicles

The rise of autonomous cars marks a huge moment in the future of transportation. It has moved from being a sci-fi to a real-life possibility. We have already seen the impact on society, enhanced mobility, and even urban planning.

These cars come with various sensors that enable them to detect their surroundings. The most basic ones are ultrasound sensors to help with parking and radar sensors to detect objects (other cars and road users) at the right distances. With AI integrations, the cars have a response time of 0.1 seconds which is incredibly fast for averting trouble.

Advantages of Using Norton AntiVirus Plus

Even though the 5G networks and these advancements are more comprehensive than their predecessors, users are still at risk of cyberattacks. In fact, tech experts state that it may be at a higher risk as the 5G NR standard lacks end-to-end encryption. Users must invest in the right infrastructure and systems such as the Norton 360 AntiVirus to improve security.

Norton AntiVirus Plus offers powerful protection for your devices and all the personal information stored in them. With the package, you get real-time protection on all existing and emerging online threats to your device.

Additionally, users also get password managers to easily generate, store, and manage passwords and any important credentials online. With a smart firewall for PC and Mac, you can monitor the communications and block unauthorised traffic. By using Norton AntiVirus, you take control of your devices and systems.

Conclusion

Even though technologies are constantly evolving and emerging in the 2020s, these are the top trends to look out for in 2024. They offer advanced comfort for users, and better career opportunities, and are only getting better in the foreseeable years. These trends will surely shape the direction of industries, businesses, and even the society at large. Your biggest role as a user is ensuring your systems and devices are protected from existing and emerging attacks. Get the Norton AntiVirus Plus and enjoy powerful protection across your terminals!

 

AR, News

BlueSnap Enhances AR Automation Solution with Surcharging and Additional Payment Methods

The enhanced AR automation solution will help businesses get paid faster, add additional payment methods and improve buyer experience.

Wednesday, May 22, 2024 , Boston, MA/London, UK: BlueSnap, the global payment orchestration platform of choice for leading B2B and B2C businesses, has enhanced their accounts receivable (AR) automation solution with surcharging and additional payment methods to support the growing needs of B2B businesses.

Suppliers and vendors that use AR automation for their B2B businesses see significant improvements in operation by streamlining various aspects of the payment process. AR automation leads to quicker responses and ensures both parties have a clear understanding of invoice and payment statuses.

The surcharge functionality adds a fee to cover the cost of the transaction for businesses and transfer the costs to their customers. The new functionality also adds the ability for businesses to apply a surcharge fee to automated clearing house (ACH) and Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) payments. BlueSnap’s technology has also implemented validation to prohibit surcharge fees where they are not compliant.

By passing payment processing fees to customers, businesses can reduce expenses while allowing customers to choose their preferred payment type, including credit cards, which businesses might otherwise not be able to accept because of the associated fees. For all businesses, especially those with smaller margins, any cost reduction is a big help.

Henry Helgeson, CEO at BlueSnap, says: “We at BlueSnap are always looking for ways to innovate and improve the AR experience for B2B businesses. These new enhancements to our AR automation solution remove any barriers B2B businesses once had around the costs associated with letting their customers use their preferred payment methods or the complexity of implementation, while improving the overall buyer experience.”

BlueSnap is also adding additional payment methods to expand support for global shoppers, with support for SEPA, BECS Direct Debit, and EFT Direct Debit to the Payment Link. The additional payment methods and support allow businesses to offer their customers more ways to pay, speeding up the collections process and making it effortless, no matter how customers want to settle their invoices. For businesses, this means being paid quicker, and for customers, it gives them more options and flexibility in how they can pay B2B invoices,

About BlueSnap: 

BlueSnap helps businesses accept global payments in a better way. Our Global Payment Orchestration Platform is designed to increase sales and reduce costs for all businesses accepting payments. BlueSnap supports payments across all geographies through multiple sales channels such as online and mobile sales, marketplaces, subscriptions, invoice payments and manual orders through a virtual terminal. And for businesses looking for global embedded payments, we offer white-labelled payments for platforms with automated underwriting and onboarding that supports marketplaces and split payments. BlueSnap is backed by world-class private equity investors including Great Hill Partners and Parthenon Capital Partners. Learn more at BlueSnap.com

AR, Fashion

The Impact of Augmented Reality on How We Buy Clothes Online

Online shopping has been on the rise for some time now. The sheer convenience of online shopping means that this trend will never lose popularity. However, there’s always room for improvement and eCommerce stores are leveraging the latest technologies to ensure their customer are coming back for more.

The most popular technology in this endeavor is Augmented Reality (AR) that redefines how people shop for clothes and other produce online these days. That being said, let’s have a look at the impact of AR on how we buy clothes online these days.

Trying clothes on without visiting a store

One of the most prominent features of AR technology in eCommerce is the ability to try things out without you having to actually visit a store. You can use mobile apps to tryout makeup, clothes, shoes and even see how furniture pieces would look in your home and it’s all thanks to augmented reality.

That said, you can spend hours trying out Fruit of the loom polo shirts until you find a perfect match for you and you can do so on you phone while you’re relaxing at home. This is a perfect blend of retail experience and online convenience that consumers are going crazy over.

A whole new eCommerce experience

Online stores have always been popular among consumers. Browsing different products throughout different online stores is more than appealing way to shop around, especially when you can do everything on your computer or phone and have the goods delivered to your doorstep.

However, online stores lacked one thing that you could only find in brick-and-mortar shops and that is the experience of seeing different products in person, as well as trying them out. But AR technology bridged that gap and created a whole new eCommerce experience that brings advantages of both worlds into the online environment.

More personalization down the line

The thing about technology is that various devices and apps collect user data and their preferences in order to provide a more personalized and customized experience for them.

Therefore, trying out clothes using AR technology brings more benefits down the line as online stores can monitor which clothes you like so that they can make better recommendations for you upon your next visit.

This gives a whole new meaning to upsell and cross-sell promotions that will benefit both customers and eCommerce store owners in the long run. It also saves you the time and trouble on browsing products until you find something you like.

AI, AR, News

First-ever AR ‘Magic Mirror’ from Vyking launches for UK retailers

VYKING LAUNCHES IN-STORE AUGMENTED REALITY “MAGIC MIRROR” FOR FOOTWEAR

  •  Virtual try-on tech startup unveils smart mirror
  • Customers can easily visualise how footwear will look through immersive technology
  • First brands to install the solution in Q2 2023

Virtual try-on startup Vyking.io today unveils its new in-store augmented reality (AR) solution, ‘Magic Mirror’, that will enable consumers to easily visualise footwear through an in-store smart mirror. Activated by walking up to a full length digitally connected mirror, customers can ‘try virtually before they buy’ dozens of pairs of trainers and other footwear quickly and conveniently.

The Magic Mirror enhances the customer experience by providing a fun, interactive and immersive buying experience, and solves a number of pain points for retailers themselves. The solution also has the potential to drastically decrease waiting times for customers and reduce pressure on staff in physical stores as they have the opportunity to see how a pair of trainers look before retrieving them from the stockroom. The customer chooses the pair they’d like to try via an instore display on a tablet, before the 3D model is “beamed” into the mirror for them to see how it looks on their own feet.

 

For stores with a smaller footprint, the technology offers the chance for retailers to display an infinite product catalogue for customers, with order-to-ship capability, and allows buying and merchandising teams to better understand which lines are most popular in real-time.

The solution also offers real omnichannel marketing possibilities as the technology can be deployed in other physical locations such as billboards, bus stops or window displays – enabling retailers to capture casual browsers as well as those entering their physical locations.

 

Matthew Klimpke, CEO and co-founder of Vyking, said: “The pandemic put a lot of pressure on brands to innovate their online platforms. We saw many investing in AR to create a more immersive and engaging experience for their customers – and with good reason, as we have seen virtual try-on solutions contribute to up to a 50% increase in conversions and 7% reduction in returns. 2022 saw us pass over 30 million annual uses of our VTO solution: a clear indication of the utility and engagement 3D and AR provide.”

“Now, as shoppers are returning to the high street, it makes sense to bring the best of that online experience into physical stores. Our Magic Mirror allows retailers to enable both proximity and personalisation for their customers and their products. It also makes more efficient use of store footprints and opens up the potential for a real omnichannel experience that goes to where their customers are.”