Augmented or Mixed Reality has been stop and go over the last few years. Basically, it takes real everyday objects and adds computer generated information from something like a smartphone or tablet. It works like this:

Let’s say you have a car and there is a problem with the engine. You lift up the bonnet, point your iPhone at a QR code on the side and your phone display overlays digital diagnostic information on the real time image of your car engine.

Or you have a product on a supermarket shelf and you want to know the best wine to complement it. You scan the QR code on the packaging and get a list of extra features and animations that add value to your potential purchase.

Or you want to run an advertising campaign for your coffee chain, so when a customer points their smartphone at a cup they get a cute animation singing the company theme tune.

Canon has been researching the possibility of using Augmented Reality for a number of their products including producing manuals for their cameras and adding it to their range of printers. While AR is often seen as a gimmick, there are some within the industry who believe that it will become the next big thing for a wide range of products, and that includes multi-function printers.

Google are currently working hard to produce glasses that allow us to get more information out of the environment around us. Companies like HP are already experimenting with AR apps that work for a range of printers, allowing users to change cartridges, order toner and a number of other activities.

But can AR go much deeper for complicated devices like multifunction printers? Imagine being able to point your phone at your machine and get a live tutorial on how to perform a particular task. According to research more and more of us are starting to use Augmented Reality in one way or another, whether it’s as a quirky gimmick or something useful like diagnosing a device problem or learning more about a historical building.

Whether we are going to see it adopted widely by the MFP industry in the near future remains to be seen but the chances are you will be able to use your smartphone to access more detail about your device as well as run a range of training modes.