Okay, I know what some of you could be thinking. “Not some other AR jargon! We’ve just barely gotten our heads what AR even is!” It’s totally understandable if you share these testaments. Indeed, AR evolves at an incredible pace. But, just like we did with a concept like WebAR, we’re going to dissect what the AR cloud is.

It’s been called a lot of things, including the future of information and the rightful heir to Google search. Actually, the cloud has the potential to be all that and more. As the cloud is such a crucial topic, this blogpost will be presented in the smoothest way possible; in a good ol’ listicle!

So, here are 5 things you need to know about the AR cloud:

Let’s kick this off with a nice surprise. Have you ever used your imagination to think of the world’s future with AR? Well, then, you already have an idea about what the AR cloud is. That’s because the cloud is the way to AR’s true potential. It’s AR done right!

To elaborate, the AR cloud is a digital copy of all the places on Earth. One day, the cloud will carry copies of the street where you live, Big Ben, the Sahara Desert, and literally everywhere else.

What’s in that for you, you ask? This, you curious soul, shall be answered in our next point.

Imagine this scenario. You’re on your way to a job interview and you’re 15 minutes early. Unfortunately for you, you step into funky dog feces. Your shoes are in such bad shape that you can’t clean them. Also, you don’t have time to go back home to change. Your only option is to buy new ones, but you have only 15 minutes to do so.

Without the AR Cloud, you could be pretty panicked at that point. But with the cloud, all you’d have to do is let the cloud show you the nearest shoe shop. That could be through your smartphone, AR glasses, or soon enough, through AR contact lenses. When you arrive there, the cloud would show if shoes of the size and color you desire are available. You wouldn’t have to go into the store to check or ask. And if you’re lucky enough, the entire process would take only a few minutes.

Essentially, that’s what the AR Cloud is all about. It’s about increasing productivity and facilitating our daily lives. The key is that all that happens without having to scroll through endless pages of Google search. Instead, the AR Cloud will have our eyes always focused on our real environments.

As hinted above, the ease of info visualization is where the AR Cloud’s power lies. For sure, reading text has propelled humanity for millennia. However, humans still digest info best when they observe and interact.

Another perk of the AR Cloud is persistence. Current AR experiences all last for a short while and have no long-term effects. On the other hand, info on the AR Cloud stays there and can be accessed forever. In addition, when the AR Cloud is established, everyone will be invited. It will be one neverending mega multi-user AR experience. Consequently, it could make way for innovative collaborations and intimate relationships.

So this isn’t just some good-to-know trivia. It’s always important to know and follow the pioneers behind the tech. That’s because they usually have their fingers on the pulse of the scene. For instance, Kevin Ashton coined the term Internet of Things over 20 years ago. To this day, he remains an IoT expert with solid insights and predictions.

In the case of the AR Cloud, we have Ori Inbar to thank. Without a doubt, he’s a world leader in AR with founding Augmented World Expo as one of his achievements. In 2017, he coined the term as he addressed the limitations to ARKit and ARCore on Medium.

A few months later, he discovered a number of companies operating on his premise of the AR Cloud. Basically, one could argue that Inbar ushered these companies into existence. So it’s high time you give the man a follow!

As mentioned a few moments ago, the AR Cloud could transform shopping experiences. Of course, that doesn’t go for shoe stores only, but for all brick-and-mortars.

Beyond the scope of shopping, the AR Cloud has great potential in gaming. Mainly, its promise of shared experiences is what’s significant here. Google’s Just a Line game is a simple but mighty fun example of an AR Cloud game. It allows players to “draw on the world” and to do so together. That includes everything from tic-tac-toe battles to collaborative graffiti masterpieces. Plus, the game is a great opportunity for networking activities during events. In addition, Just a Line could be more than just a game. Google believes users could use it to customize their homes together.

In time, the AR Cloud will be involved in all walks of life and that includes sports. Recently, Harvard Business School’s Digital Initiative took a dive into that matter. Among the uses discussed were AR for coaches that could lead to unprecedented training techniques. During matches, coaches could use AR to visualize info such as shooting percentages. Then, coaches could provide immediate feedback to the players. This brings a whole new level of competitiveness to sports and excitement to fans.

5 Things You Should Know about the AR Cloud was originally published in AR/VR Journey: Augmented & Virtual Reality Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.