##What is AR? Most people know augmented reality (AR) from video games or anime, but augmented reality does have a much larger backstory outside of fiction. First created in the early 1990s, augmented reality was created for military use in order to create simulated training. later on in the 90s, companies began using augmented reality for gaming and entertainment, which today is the industry standard tool for creating high-quality experiences in gaming and animation. But of course there is much more to augmented reality that makes it different from its counterpart virtual reality (VR): unlike virtual reality augmented reality is reality altered with virtual effects, while virtual reality is completely virtual. Because augmented reality is a combination of visual effects and reality. The development process requires extra steps during the development of the software and hardware to use AR, developers that create goggles or glasses for augmented reality during the development process they must consider if the resolution of the virtual effects are suitable for the resolution of the environment it’s being used in. In sum, augmented reality is basically a fusion of a real reality with virtual reality making it an optimum marketing tool for today’s businesses as well as many other fields including medicine and architecture.

###AR in Business and Commerce In the past several years, augmented reality has gained significant popularity in marketing solutions. It has been mainly used to market new products for businesses and provide a physical form to curate products to potential customers. This idea was initially created following the basic rules of marketing: a customer/shopper when shopping will always want to test, feel, and more importantly see a product before purchasing. With so many startups coming up with new products and trying to sell them as pre-orders before they are produced, producers often face the problem of most people being reluctant to buy a product by just seeing a picture or description. Augmented reality marketing helps solve a this issue in the world of modern business. An example of augmented reality assisting with marketing are AR Plugins some websites use so that potential customers can preview or try on a product in AR. There are also kiosks in the mall with VR/AR headsets that allow you to try out new products to see for yourself.

##Shopping with AR

###Intro Shopping with AR As we know, augmented reality has been used for entertainment, marketing, etc; but it’s also the future shopping cart of the future. As of today on some business websites, you can actually preview products in VR/ARr, but in the future, it is predicted that many stores both brick and mortar as well as online will enable their stores for AR engagement.

###How does AR Shopping work? AR shopping works in the same way normal shopping does: you can view or try products to see whether or not it interests you and you can purchase it just like any normal store. The only real difference is that you’re either using a headset for AR or you’re online–both of which make the chore of shopping both more convenient and overall interesting for the shopper. Technically as a shopper, it’s almost like being inside a video game but the environment might be your home and the game is just you shopping for some jeans and your trying them on so for shoppers it’s a particularly interesting adventure browsing the endless products businesses have to offer and then trying them out.

##Conclusion I believe that AR is the future of business and commerce. Although AR is sophisticated, in time, AR will become simpler and more widely used throughout businesses both large and small. Furthermore, many consumers are fully embracing the AR driven future. Based on a private research study conducted by “wired2tech” a small educational online resource, has found that out of 300 people questioned as to what they felt about Augmented Reality and if they would use it, 235 answered positively and with that I can conclude consumers are ready for the near future and they cant wait to see it.

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