Augmented Reality for Events: Everything You Need to Know

Augmented reality is one of the most significant event industry trends that is blowing up right now. The concept is designed to boost engagement and enhance the event experience for attendees. Augmented reality for events is like stepping into an event venue where attendees, instead of looking for signboards or volunteers, take out their phones and point out the hallway to get virtual arrows instantly to the registration desk.

Sounds amazing, right? Right from trade fairs and concerts to corporate meetings and conferences, augmented reality (AR) is increasingly used by event organizers to involve audiences, share brand messages, and create memorable experiences.

In simple words, AR represents the combined strength of virtual elements like videos, images, 3D graphics, wearable smart glasses etc and the real world environment to offer an interactive experience to attendees in events. It has redefined the way attendees interact with a brand in an event.

If you are still not into this new event industry trend, it is high time you consider it for your events. To help you in this journey, we have come up with this article in which you will learn about augmented reality for events and how it can transform the ways attendees are engaged in an event.

What is augmented reality for events?

The term augmented reality signifies the usage of digital elements such as images, videos, 3D glasses, and more on top of the real world environment. When it comes to AR for events, the virtual elements are used to enhance the event experience for the attendees. In such an event set-up attendees not only watch or read information in an event but also communicate with the 3D objects, guides, real-time visual effects, and more with their mobile phone, tablets, etc.

Though VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) fall under the same category, technically they are different. AR connects GPS and mobile camera technology to display information in the real world whereas VR is for a complete virtual world.

Why should you use augmented reality for your events?

Augmented reality for events is not just a new trend but also an event technology that carries multiple advantages, especially when it comes to event experience. As it integrates the real world with the virtual world, event organizers get a lot of scopes to add creativity to the event content and make it super engaging for attendees.

Benefits of augmented reality for events

• Drives engagement: Augmented reality is known for its engagement driving capacity in events as it creatively combines the digital elements into the real world. Attendees freely interact with the virtual elements and take a deep dive into the content ensuring their active participation.
• Helps you stand out: In the highly competitive event industry, augmented reality helps event organizers stand out. With gamification, interactive exhibits, and detailed product demonstration, it not only attracts attendees but also creates unique experiences for them.
• Detailed demonstrations: One of the biggest advantages of using augmented reality in events is its ability to describe a product in detail to attendees interactively. This makes the journey interesting and engaging for the attendees. They can view the 3D models of products, find out their main features, explore virtual demo and more.
• Flexibility: AR is suitable for all types of event setups. Organizers can easily adopt this trend using mobile devices, 3D glasses and other similar things. This makes it flexible and easily adaptable in different types of events with various requirements.
• Measurement and analysis: AR also allows event organizers to track and measure the level of engagement in their event which helps them understand which ideas work for them, attendee behaviors, their interests, overall performance and where they need improvements. It comes with tools that help them analyze engagement level by gathering data and monitoring interactions.

Types of events that can use augmented reality (AR)

Being a flexible technology, AR can be used in a wide range of events. It easily blends with different event themes and objectives. Some of the examples of events where augmented reality can be used include the following:

• Sports events.
• Professional conferences.
• Trade fairs.
• Exhibitions.
• Product promotions.
• Showrooms.

In a nutshell, augmented reality can be widely used in events to drive engagement, interactions, and personalization.

How event organizers can use augmented reality for events?

Whether you are a first timer or a pro in event management, here are some of the ways to utilize augmented reality:

1. Allow attendees to interact

When it comes to increasing networking opportunities in events, AR can be a great technology for event organizers. It helps bring people together and makes it easy for them to connect. In augmented reality for events, it is possible for event organizers to display the details of each attendee on their head, or display a subject for discussion to each attendee. AR for events brings a lot of possibilities that event organizers can utilize to innovate and make their events successful.

2. Gamification

AR and gamification go hand in hand. You can easily spice up your conference by gamifying it through interactive games and networking opportunities. You can go for a digital scavenger hunt, car racing games, debates, or competition on a leaderboard, etc to create an augmented reality gamification experience. Try it to make your events fun and interactive for attendees. AR magically transforms a conventional event into a fun and playful experience.

3. Describe products in detail

When it comes to events like trade shows in which a lot of products need to be demonstrated, augmented reality plays a major role. For such events, a huge space is required to showcase products, but AR smartly replaces it with a virtual space where such products can be easily displayed and described to attendees, saving a lot of money and space. In augmented reality, you can even show large manufacturing equipment in full size in your event booth to your attendees. This will not only help them understand the product functionality but also connect attendees with it.

AR is no longer a future; it is presently used by various event organizers in different ways to make events engaging, fun, and interactive for attendees. The best part about it is that it is a cost-effective technology for events. It provides amazing virtual tours to attendees in the event venue that they enjoy and interact with.

Pro tip: combine AR with smooth registration

Augmented reality attracts attendees like a magnet but what about offering those attendees a simplified registration and ticketing solution? No matter how interactive or interesting your event content is, if you fail to offer your attendees a short and simple registration process, they are most likely to step back.

Trust a WordPress event management plugin like WP Event Manager to make your event registration and ticketing easy and secure with its Sell tickets and Registrations addons.

Wrapping up

We hope that this article will help you understand the concept of augmented reality and how you can implement it in your event. For everything else in your event WP Event Manager is there. Try it to explore and experience the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How is augmented reality different from virtual reality?

Augmented reality or AR improves the real world experience by overlaying digital elements in the real world in real time whereas virtual reality or VR builds a complete virtual atmosphere for people in the digital world that they experience through their headsets.

2. What devices are needed to use AR?

AR does not require any specialized equipment. For basic AR experience, tablets, smartphones with built in camera are enough and when it comes to the advanced AR experience, 3D glasses are used.

3. Is augmented reality for events expensive to adopt?

The cost of using AR for events depends on its complexity. However, simple AR features such as filters, QR experiences etc are more affordable than the 3D and immersive setups.

4. Is augmented reality safe?

Yes, augmented reality is completely safe if used correctly. AR applications perfectly align with the standard data privacy and security guidelines, and to create AR experiences, only camera access is required.

5. Which events benefit from augmented reality?

Events like trade shows, exhibitions, product launches, education, real estate, retail, and entertainment mostly benefit from AR technology.