Our partners at Insights Association hosted a small group of members at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was their first time organizing an “insights-focused” experience for members and the excursion involved taking members to see new products geared to their work, all while chatting and networking about what they saw with their peers. Insights Association, who also co-sponsored the CES event, shared this exclusive glimpse into the experience with the WIRe community:

Augmented Reality (AR), which overlays digital content onto the real-world environment via special eyeglasses or a smartphone’s display and camera, was a star market segment at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

“I was most impressed with the augmented reality demonstrations,” commented Frank Mezler, Vice President at Moore Research Services, who attended the Insights Association’s research-focused CES 2018 Excursion. “I don’t mean just putting a dinosaur next to someone as you look through glasses. I’m talking about real applications where you type in midair and access your files and folders simply by moving your hands. If anyone remembers the 1994 movie “Disclosure” with Demi Moore and Michael Douglas, that’s the kind of augmented reality we saw here.”

Steve Koenig, senior director of research for the Consumer Technology Association, which owns and produces CES, declared on the exhibition’s first day, “This is the year that AR eclipses VR and AR apps on smartphones are driving it.” Mobile and in-store AR will continue to redefine the shopping experience, especially with the rise of high-speed 5G networks, he said. “What is reality? It’s an open question,” Koenig says. “Augmented reality will be the preference because it’s awesome!”

The augmented reality marketplace at CES grew by 10% this year to a record 10,900 net square feet. AR got a boost last fall when Apple added AR sensors and capabilities into its latest iPhones. The company said nearly 2,000 game, social media, education and shopping apps have now been developed using its AR Kit software tools.

Insights Association members can access the entire CES Trends Story and pre-register for the 2019 CES Excursion here: http://www.insightsassociation.org/article/tracing-tech-trends-ces-2018-will-matter-most-marketing-researchers</>

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We’d love to hear more from our community regarding AR and MRX. Have you used Augmented Reality in your projects and, if so, what was your experience? Comment below or shoot us an email at jessica@womeninresearch.org

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