The history of Augmented Reality can be traced back to the 1990s. Over the years, stalwarts like Facebook and Google have invested galore in this technology thereby offering better and unique experience to users across the globe.
In this write-up, let us find out more about Augmented Reality and how it has revolutionized the toys and gaming industry aside from the technology driven influence on this industry.
According to reports, way back in the year 2007 alone, the volume of sales of toys across the globe was recorded at USD$78.1 billion, which grew by more than 7% till the time it attained USD$84.1 billion in 2012. This data was furnished by the Toy Industry Association (which is US based).
Having said that the major giants in the gaming world and toy industry, namely, JAKKS, Namco Bandai, LEGO, Mattel, and Hasbro, reported revenue generation of around USD$29 billion in 2012 when combined together.
Coming to recent developments, according to analysts, the AR and Virtual Reality (VR) market is slated to become a market that will be worth USD$150 billion by the year 2020. And out of this AR market alone will enjoy a share of USD$120 billion. As such, it is being predicted that in the next couple of years, this industry is sure to witness explosive growth.
How does AR make the difference in the toy industry?
With Augmented Reality, you get a feel of the real world while you or your child plays with the toys. This technology allows toys to be more interactive where your smartphones become a part of the same.
It can be your tablets, smartphones, or just any hand held device that you use. Moreover, this technology also allows the functionalities of the toys to improve without having to raise the cost of production.
Apart from choosing the right monetization strategy (in-app purchases, promotional app etc.), Augmented Reality toys and games must provide best experience for their users. This is possible when choosing the right AR development team, like Invisible Toys who have expertise in sophisticated solutions for tech-savvy audience.
How has technology changed the face of toy industry?
Given below are few ways in which technology has impacted the toy industry at large.
- Portable gaming-One of the major changes that have altered the way in which children have been playing is making everything portable. And how will this portability help children? You can play anywhere and all you need is a switch that activates the game mode in your device. In fact, your smartphone is all that is required to start off.
- Better graphics – Over the years, the manner in which graphics were upgraded in the toy industry is remarkable. The gaming platforms improved thereby offering enhanced gaming experiences to kids and elders alike. Also, responsible for the experience is high-speed hardware, ability to take on more instructions, and better pixel resolution.
- Three dimensional – These days, you will find that most of the games are on a 3D platform, where the fundamental aspect is better experience.
- Artificial Intelligence – Aside from the toy industry, the video game industry has grown by leaps and bounds. What is most appealing these days in AI is that more and more toys and games are incorporating this technology that offers a real life experience and also the fact that this technology allows you to experience near-to human actions as it is able to “mimic human beings” in a remarkable manner.
Experts’ verdict
According to research analysts and veterans of this industry, concepts like invisible toys, AR, VR, and advanced gaming systems can offer a real-life experience; nevertheless, children must not be confined to AR and be deprived from the real-world experiences despite the fact that there’s a lot to learn from these games powered by Augmented Reality and advanced technologies.
