A new study from Ypulse, a marketing and research firm aimed at youth, suggests that teens may be more confused by augmented reality than they are about QR codes. Augmented reality is currently a craze for a number of industries. Game developers and marketers are using the technology to create new experiences for consumers, but their efforts to expose younger people to the technology have not been going well. The study shows that only 11% of high school and college students have used augmented reality mobile application. More have used QR codes but say that they simply do not see the point in either technology.
Of those that have used mobile augmented reality applications, only 34% said that they were useful and easy to use. Another 26% said that these apps were easy enough to use, but did not see any point in using them. Mobile technology is having difficulty gaining a foothold amongst young consumers. As companies attempt to appeal to the interests of this certain demographic, they are beginning to find that teens are, surprisingly, rather simplistic.
According to the Ypulse study, one of the main problems keeping teens away from new mobile technologies is the fact that they do not realize they need a third-party application to get them to work. Most teens think that all they need is the camera built into their smart phones. This means that they are somewhat unwilling or do not know that there is more involved in using augmented reality and QR codes. In both cases, the minor complications are enough to dissuade teens from using the technologies.
