Smartphone AR isn’t making the headlines for no reason, but rather due to its unbridled potential for innovation. Hermes, a European delivery service, embraces the technology to its fullest by including two AR packaging services, one of which is really quite unique. It works through Hermes Send app, looks like something out of Harry Potter movies, and can be summed up as on-parcel Hermes AR video message.
The other one is perhaps a little less exciting but nonetheless very useful. Much in the spirit of many leading airline companies, Hermes has included an Augmented Reality packaging measurement feature. Rather that carrying a tape around, users can camera scan their packages to decide on the box size. The parcel size calculator software is a combination of camera image and smartphone sensor workload that measure an item and provide an AR image to fit the measured object in. Developed using Apple ARKit, the feature is currently available for iOS only.
As opposed to size calculator, the video messaging feature will grace both iOS and Android phones. You must be wondering by now how does the Hermes AR video message actually work. In short, users can let fly a recorded video message to arrive with every parcel. The video message, taken through the Hermes Play feature, is uploaded via Hermes Send app, and coded into a 2D barcode to go with the parcel label. Once it arrives on address, the recipients use their smartphones to decode the message and play it atop the parcel itself. The message will be available for 30 days upon successful delivery.
The case with many an AR oddity, this is not simply a gimmick. The Hermes AR video message feature actually improves the customer experience by making the oh-so-regular package sending and receiving that more personal. A sentiment that is shared by Hermes UK CEO Martijn de Lange: ‘At Hermes this year our mission is to make parcels personal again and our digital teams have been working hard to create new and exciting initiatives’. New, exciting, and fairly advanced, as both features present a sophisticated interplay of various different platforms.
The one common denominator though, the thing that made it possible is the Hermes app. The company is among pioneers in introducing mobile phone label production, saving many hours to their customers in the process. Hermes AR offering is an extension of the company desire to make parcel business as hassle-free and as fun as they possibly can.
Hermes AR video message feature, in words of the CEO de Lange, is ‘designed to create a personal connection and make the experience of sending and receiving a parcel just that little bit more special’. From NASA to LEGO, companies keep finding ways to excite their crowds and improve experiences. It is a testament to Augmented Reality’s flexibility that it caters to so may businesses and so many use cases. You can even make your own AR pizza nowadays!
