Augmented reality is here to stay, and while it impacts all areas of our lives, it will also dramatically affect the workplace. Augmented reality, just like artificial intelligence (AI), is one of those things most people assume is only in science fiction movies and not something that they might meet in their lifetimes.

While being applied to games, the augmented reality is being applied to more and more areas of our lives. It is a technology that will dramatically change the workplace and also create new jobs.

Ways Augmented Reality can be Used in the Workplace

Training Employees

Training employees has been a challenge for some small and large businesses to coordinate. People can be around the world and need the same training for which there are few experts. Companies are searching for alternate methods of coordinating these training to eliminate some costs that these trainings incur.

A lot of companies are now integrating augmented reality into their training programs for employees. In health care, medical practitioners are beginning to practice complex medical procedures in a 3D environment.

According to Forbes, with augmented reality, companies will develop consistent training programs for each employee and allow the employees to create a measure of confidence in their roles. These programs reduce the risk of injury during training and, in the long run, eliminate some of the training costs.

Facilitation of Repairs

When using augmented reality to make repairs, a manual or guided tutorial could be superimposed over the repaired item. This makes for a more effective and efficient repair process as time spent consulting a more traditional manual is eliminated. The repairer is taken through and shown a step by step procedure of the process.

Furthermore, with augmented reality, it is possible for other experts and trained personnel to collectively work on a repair in real-time even while being far from the repair site. It can be used to put together a team that otherwise could have been difficult to do with people being anywhere in the world. This could cut down costs like travel and lodging and increase revenue.

Welcoming and On-Boarding New Employees

Augmented reality can be used to put new employees at ease. It can be employed to provide a virtual map to learn their way around, who is who, and how to do their jobs. Even though this cannot replace human interaction or building authentic relationships, it offers a method for making the onboarding process more effective and efficient for employees.

Augmented reality headsets can give new employees knowledge about the business, the office, and even mundane information like who sits where, does what, and how they connect with what the employee does. The possibilities for this are endless.

In The Retail Space

Online shopping can be a hassle for anyone, as there is no easy way to check fit or scale. Retail stores with augmented reality implemented will dramatically increase their revenue for their online retail processes by just making it easy to virtually ‘try on’ an item. This makes anyone more likely to purchase the item.

Software Development

With the world’s technological advancement, there has been an increasing need for programmers. With augmented reality opening a new section of technology, there will be a demand for programmers who can program for it.
Finding and hiring these developers is only the first step. Companies that rely heavily on technology will also consider costs, process, dependability, and quality. These might make companies consider hiring and keeping an inside programmer.

In Human Resources

Augmented reality can be used to assess a job applicant’s suitability when they are shown real-life situations and are required to respond to them.

It allows for a more precise assessment of the applicant’s talent and knowledge and how they will fit in as the company’s employees.

Conclusion

With the different ways augmented reality can be used in the workplace, it is easy to see why companies will start implementing it in their daily operations in order to run more effectively and cut down some costs and risks.