Augmented Reality E-Commerce: How the Technology Benefits People's Lives

Augmented Reality (AR), an emerging Human-Computer Interaction technology, which aims to mix or overlap computer-generated 2D or 3D virtual objects and other feedback with real world scenes, shows great potential for enhancing e-commerce systems. Unlike VR, which replaces the physical world, AR enhances physical reality by integrating virtual objects into the physical world. The virtual object becomes, in a sense, an equal part of the natural environment.

This chapter presents a new type of e-commerce system, AR e-commerce, which visually brings virtual products into real physical environments for user interaction. The new approach gives customers a chance to “try" a product at home or in another use environment.