Getting your message across at a Trade Show is hard with so many other competitors competing for attention. Video presentations or printed literature will only get you so far. With all the exciting technology available, visitors need something more engaging that will leave a lasting memory and stand out.
That’s why immersive experiences, such as Augmented Reality (AR) could be just the thing to bring your visitors in. AR is an interactive experience combining real and virtual worlds. A device, such as your phone or wearable glasses “augments” what is already a real world image, with an extra layer of digital animation. Through AR, you can create an experience that appeals and connects to a visitor on an emotional and physical level. Of course beyond that aim, there are also other benefits of using this immersive tech, such as for sales, implementing creative ways to showcase products & services and enhancing user engagement & understanding.
Don’t know how you can use it at your next event? We’ve come up with some creative ways to use AR to make your stand the main attraction at the show!
Product demonstrations
Showcasing products at a trade show can be difficult for some industries. At car shows for instance, companies require hundreds of square feet to display all their vehicles at an event. Lugging all your car-related products to an exhibit and paying for a large venue space might just be too impractical.
This is where AR becomes the perfect tool. Visitors can explore and interact with all the company’s content on one device, such as a tablet, phone or through AR glasses. It’s that simple!
For example, Coats, a global leading industrial thread business, asked us and our friends at VisMedia to help them develop an innovative experience showcasing their latest composite automotive products. Through 3D object recognition, AR and AI, we created an interactive app perfect for their global sales events aimed at their customers in the automotive industry.
The app featured a detailed highly realistic 3D model of a car, which users could explore via a touchscreen to learn about how Coat’s technologically advanced threads, zips and trims are used in its construction. Using the camera on the iPad, an augmented reality digital overlay is visible with intuitive interface that tells the story of the use of these materials through text, images, video and 3D animations.
This is a great example of how industries, such as manufacturing, can use AR to showcase their products in a unique and simple way at a trade show. It becomes a personal experience for each attendee whilst seeing first hand what the business can offer in a way they’ve never been able to before!
Educating visitors through gamification
With the rise of technology, gamification is becoming a hugely popular trend. By taking characteristics from games and adding them to everyday actions, you can make any topic more interesting!
For instance, Amazon asked us to create an educational immersive experience revolved around transportation risks that they could showcase at CES – the biggest technology trade show in the world. This isn’t really the most gripping topic to talk about at your stand. So we decided to create a fun AR mini-game that will entertain as well as educate visitors.
‘Think Inside The Box’ teaches users about the different types of dangerous goods regulated for transport. When holding an iPad, users virtually x-ray an Amazon shipping package that magically reveals different goods. They are then asked which goods are dangerous and get a score to see how many answers they got right. This game is an entertaining way to educate and engage people with a topic that they might not find interesting. The immersive aspect of the game is also a fantastic way to interact with the business.
If you want to make your stand even more engaging, you can create a multiplayer AR game. Exhibitors can set up friendly competitions between users, which is not only a fun way to interact with the company’s product/brand, its also a great way to network!
AR Photo Booth/Mirror
An AR mirror is also a very popular and highly effective tool to attract and engage attendees to your trade show booth. It is a photo booth that lets viewers see themselves in a reflection with augmented components added in.
Noonah Experiential partnered with Cambridge University Press to create a fun immersive experience that would attract the attention of attendees. When standing in front of the Cambridge Yourself booth, visitors could take photos of themselves projected onto prominent landmarks in Cambridge, like punting down the river. You even got it printed out for you to take home, making it the perfect memento of the event!
The Cambridge Yourself booth was a huge success! Not only were visitors very entertained by the AR feature, it was also a fantastic way to promote the business, showing how Cambridge Uni Press is not just a print provider, but a digital one too.
Many other companies use the AR mirror at their trade show stand, especially those in the beauty or retail industry. Users can see what certain products look like by simply standing in front of the mirror. This virtual dressing room is a quick and fun way to advertise your brand.
Visual entertainment through Microsoft Hololens
The Microsoft Hololens is amazing for visual learners. These mixed reality smart-glasses developed by Microsoft can project 3D objects which are anchored into the user’s physical setting, blending aspects of virtual and real reality. It’s a fantastic way to showcase a product. This is because you can engage and interact with digital content through high definition holograms that come to life. Lufthansa and 3Spin did this at the worlds largest tourism trade show in 2017. When putting on the AR glasses, visitors saw a small version of the new Lufthansa A350, which they could then fly around the event space. Entertaining experiences such as this one definitely adds another dimension to an event. Wearable tech such as the Hololens has the potential to make big changes to product displays at trade shows and we’re excited to see how other companies use it next.
The possibilities of using AR at trade shows are endless. It’s the perfect tool to educate, entertain and increase brand engagement. If you’ve been inspired and are considering using AR at your next event, why not drop us a line? Or maybe you want to see our work first? We’re experts in the field and would be happy to help! If you’re also interested in how to use virtual reality at a trade show, we’ve got you covered! Check out our article on the creative ways this technology can be used to attract an audience to your stand.