It is not everyday that a Jamaican company breaks new ground in technological innovation and advancement. This we usually associate with the billion dollar tech giants of Silicon Valley. But that is exactly what the company SIEAE has done with the concept of Augment Reality (AR). The name SIEAE stands for See in everything Augmented Experiences.

“SIEAE is a very new entity in the business world with the focus of developing augmented applications here in the Caribbean. It is operated solely by myself and a graphic designer who is an alumni of the Art institute of Ft. Lauderdale,” says Managing Director Robert Farr.  “The idea to bring this digital experience came about simply from observing the use of technology here in Jamaica. To put it bluntly, everyone has a smart phone, a laptop or a home computer, the question simply was, what if?”

“Imagine pointing your smart phone’s camera down the road and in return being presented with information or data relative to nearby interest points such as shops and attractions. How about entering a department store and having instant access to a guide to all the individual contents and a personal, virtual concierge that directs you to their location” Robert explains. “Another example might be you sitting at home in front of your webcam, trying-on augmented luxury watches. Lastly, how about bringing a brochure or other marketing document to life and putting your product in the hands of your potential client thanks to a 3D AR experience”. All this and far more is possible with augmented reality technology.

Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with live video or the user’s environment in real time. Technically speaking, augmented reality can be explained as the generation of a composite view for the user that is the combination, in real time, of a virtual scene viewed by the user, via a camera for example, and a virtual scene generated by the computer, therefore augmenting the scene with additional information.

There are three different types of augmented reality. 1) Markerless Tracking (MLT) – this performs active tracking and recognition of real environment on any type of support (visuals, objects, faces, movement) without using special placed markers. 2) Sensor based Technology – sensors are used in locations where MLT are less operational (e.g. due to lack of light). They send a signal to a receiver within range and are able to curate information pertinent to the individual instead of everything around thanks to powerful filters.  3) GPS and Compass Technology – mainly found on smartphones and tablets, this type of applications takes advantage of the devices’ GPS and compass features with access to high-speed wireless networks. Still fairly imprecise due to current inaccuracy of the GPS technology, its main attraction lays to provide useful local web-content information and added services in 2D format at the geolocation of the user.

Augmented Reality has the ability be a real game-changer in the areas of website and digital marketing, mobile marketing and e-commerce. With an average linger time of seven minutes, the advantages to using augmented reality on a website is obvious. Sales conversions, downloads or even total page visits increase as linger time increases.

Smartphones and tablet devices are quickly becoming the new PC, and as of February 2011 more mobile devices have been sold than PCs and laptops. The expanded view and functionality that tablet devices provide make this an ideal platform for robust and immersive augmented reality experiences.

Technology can also aid salespersons in allowing them to physically demonstrate their product or service conveniently over the internet. The last decade has seen the emergence of tools like Sales Force which has transformed sales departments by supporting the implementation of quality business processes, just as human resources management or engineering is guided by best practice techniques.

“We feel that marketing technologies can help sales people to sell more effectively. Not [only] by creating visually stunning presentations but by using technology to tap into psychological sales principles and by applying technology to every step of the sales process, from lead generation, qualification, right through to delivery,” claims Robert. “By adopting marketing technologies sales people reap the benefits of placing a digital version of a product in a client’s hands. Not only is this a powerful way to sell, the intelligence gained from allowing a customer to explore a digital version of a product can provide very powerful intelligence on what customers like most about what they see.”

Businesses are always looking for a competitive edge – augmented reality might just be the difference that many organisations are looking for to help them stand out from the crowd.

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