Augmented reality services

We assume that one of the key reasons is in the difference between a standalone application and a web service. Both architectures have some advantages and disadvantages. The Standalone application (e.g. Nokia/OVI Maps) provides the required functionality. From the user point of view, main asset of this "offline" approach is network connectivity independence. However, this kind of applications must be upgraded manually. Moreover, it is hard to get any data about the application usage because it requires additional actions from the user - data are usually acquired through conventional ways, such as email or web forms.The online service such as Google Maps (including its mobile application) can offer the same functionality as the offline application. Nevertheless, a permanent connection to provider servers is necessary. This can be taken as a drawback. On the other hand, usage data collection is easier and can be done without the user intervention. The data collection provides a valuable analysis basis of the user habits and needs. This analysis is necessary for design of a complex "user" based solutions such as Google Now.Augmented reality applications are usually based on the first mentioned approach. In this article, we describe our model of augmented reality as a service and compare its features with standalone solutions. Further, other important key aspects for large emergence of augmented reality services in a mainstream market are discussed.