By Yury Sokolov, Finazon founder. Innovating at the crossroads of finance and tech.
Augmented reality, or AR, a groundbreaking technology that merges our real world with computer-generated enhancements, is well on its way to transforming many industries. Think of Apple’s latest offering, Vision Pro, as a prime example. One domain ready to experience this transformation is finance, with the potential for radical changes in how we visualize data, simulate trades and educate industry professionals and the public.
As a leader in the industry, I’m seeing the complexities of finance increasing exponentially. Traditional means of visualizing intricate financial data, such as 2-D and 3-D charts and graphs, often oversimplify or overcomplicate the information. These tools can struggle to represent large data sets accurately and offer limited interactivity, preventing users from fully engaging with and understanding the data. AR, however, stands ready to bridge this gap by providing immersive and adaptable visualization options that present large and complex data sets in a more intuitive, understandable and interactive manner.
This technology can create a seamless blend of the real and virtual worlds, allowing users to visualize and manipulate data in real time. Imagine an investor analyzing a company’s performance. With AR, they could view traditional data, such as stock prices and fundamentals, overlaid with real-world elements, such as a 3-D representation of the company’s factories around the globe, operational data or even a comparison with competitors’ businesses. This multidimensional, contextual analysis could demystify complex financial data for non-experts and facilitate more informed investment decisions.
Another area I predict AR will revolutionize is trading simulations. Currently, traders test strategies using past market conditions; however, AR could recreate these historical scenarios in greater detail. This approach could help us better understand past trends, lessons and events, which could inform future strategies and predictions. For instance, we could have predicted the economic outcome of Covid more precisely and acted with more certainty. Furthermore, integrating AR with artificial intelligence (AI) could yield trading simulations that continuously learn, adapt and improve, providing more accurate market representations and ensuring that investment strategies are optimized for prevailing market conditions and risks.
Beyond data visualization and trading, AR could also redefine financial education. As digitalization continues its rapid advance, financial literacy becomes increasingly crucial. Yet, financial concepts can be abstract and daunting to many. I believe AR will transform financial education by making abstract concepts tangible and interactive. Be it in coursework, training programs or public education initiatives, AR can create a more engaging and effective learning environment. By enabling learners to visualize and interact with financial concepts and scenarios in a virtual space, AR can simplify and demystify these ideas, making them accessible to a wider audience.
While AR’s promise is undeniably exciting, its adoption may initially seem overwhelming. However, major tech companies like Apple and Meta have already taken the first steps by opening their AR platforms to external developers. In the financial sector, we are still in the early stages of AR adoption. Yet, given the rapid advancements in AI and AR technologies, this pace of adoption could quickly accelerate.
Incorporating AR Into Your Business
The first step in adopting AR technology is to understand how it operates and the specific advantages it could bring to your business. Once you have a solid grasp of this, you can start incorporating AR into small, non-critical areas of your operations. Initiate a prototype or a pilot project to get a feel for how the technology functions in a real-life business setting. This approach will offer insights into the tech’s effectiveness and help identify potential obstacles hindering broader adoption.
The decision to develop AR internally or to collaborate with an outside partner depends heavily on your company’s existing capabilities and resources. If your organization boasts a strong tech team already well-versed in AR, internal development might be the way to go. On the other hand, working alongside a dedicated AR firm can grant you access to specialized expertise and top-tier technology. If you opt for a partnership, seek out a company with a proven history of deploying successful AR solutions within your industry. Evaluate their client portfolio, past projects and the results they’ve achieved. It’s essential that any potential partner understands your business objectives and can tailor their solutions to match.
When embarking on the initial stages of AR integration, leaders may encounter various challenges, including data privacy concerns or substantial implementation costs. The first issue can be addressed by consulting with a legal firm. The second challenge, high costs, can be tackled by investing upfront or waiting for the technology to mature and become more affordable, much like conventional software engineering costs.
It’s true that with new technology comes new challenges, but these obstacles also bring new opportunities. My forecast is that we can expect to see significant changes instigated by AR in finance starting as early as 2024. These changes will likely continue to progress and expand over the next decade, providing a wealth of opportunities for businesses that are ready to embrace this groundbreaking technology.
