CPA_Practice_Advisor_July_2020 - 12

APPS WE LOVE

By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-in-Chief

Augmented Reality
SINCE THE PANDEMIC prevents us from going out anywhere, this month we
decided to take a deep dive into augmented reality (AR) apps - tools that bring
reality home to us on our phones and tablets. Video game players are comfortable
in this 3-D realm, but for those who are new to AR, here are some easy ways
to get started - you just might find you have entered a world from which you
will never return! Some of these are apps you can download and use yourself.
A few are apps that are changing the business world in ways that will impact
us and our clients in years to come. While all of them might seem to employ a
certain amount of magic, there's nothing but reality associated with these apps.
Speaking of the home, let's start with home
décor. The IKEA Place app lets you photograph
a location in your home or office, choose a furniture or decorative item, and place the item to
scale right into the image of your room so you
can see exactly how it will look and fit; then take
a picture so you can refer back to the design.
You can of course make purchases through the
app as well. The app is intuitive and easy to use.
I'm also a fan of the Project Color app provided by Home Depot. Choose a paint color, take
a picture of the wall that you want to change, and
click to "paint" your wall with the chosen color.
You can alter the shade and save your pictures
for future reference.
A great way to kill time and learn new things
is with the JigSpace app. See working 3-D models
of the insides of a microwave oven, a piano, the
human ear, and many more items. Constantly
being updated, you can now see a 3-D model of
the coronavirus.
The Google Maps app and its companion,
Google Earth, have been offering 3-D findings
for years and they keep improving. Google Maps
now offers an AR viewing experience to help you
navigate to your destination.
Microsoft's HoloLens is changing industries
all over the world. Here are some examples:
* Black Marble is transforming the way police
solve cr i mes: ht t ps://w w w.yout ube.com /
watch?v=4UHN8G5BM-8
* Ford Motor company is designing new cars: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QyA7HhIYkg
* Philips is leverage the technology to help doc-

JULY 2020 ■

tors treat patients: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=loGxO3L7rFE
Newer automobiles are starting to offer
heads-up display screens (HUDs) in the windshield
in front of the driver where you can see your
speed and GPS information without having to
look away from the road.
You may be familiar with face filters, a popular augmented reality feature found in Snapchat
among other apps. Restaurants have started
using the Snapchat capabilities to make their
menus interactive - click on a menu item and
see a 3-D version of the food on its serving plate,
and you can size it and place it right on your table,
expand it to see details, to completely visualize
the meal before you decide to order.
Many clothing, merchandise, and makeup
retailers are providing 3-D experiences to allow
customers to try on clothes or experiment
with makeup designs virtually before making
purchases. With some programs, such as My
Virtual Model, you indicate your size and a
model appears, much like a virtual mannequin.
Sephora's Virtual Artist uses your camera to
show your own face as you sample makeup
colors and designs. Warby Parker lets you try
on glasses on a photo of your own face before
purchasing online.
Physicians and nurses can use the AccuVein
app and others like it to visualize veins, valves,
and bifurcations under the skin without having
to cut anyone open. Products like this are helping
revolutionize home health care.
I first encountered augmented reality in print

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publications when I turned to a magazine ad and
saw a message that said, "Scan the Shazam code
to see trees grow out of this page and discover
why trees are important." I opened my Shazam
app and there was a little camera on the screen,
I clicked the camera, held it over the magazine
page, and the page came alive in an interactive 3-D environment. Shazam has since been
bought by Apple and the 3-D technology has been
removed from the app, but it got me thinking
about what other publications are doing with AR.
A little bit of searching online allowed me to
discover that the world of AR is about to overtake
print media, so you'll want to keep an eye out
for options to view not just advertisements but
also stories in a 3-D format. Many companies are
providing this service and it is destined to grow. ■

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loGxO3L7rFE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UHN8G5BM-8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QyA7HhIYkg http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

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