In last week’s column, I talked a little about the latest mobile sensation, Pokemon Go, and some of the factors that helped catapult it to recording-breaking success. I’ve received some great responses and emails and wanted to address some of the questions.

The big one being: So what does it mean? Is it significant that this game has skyrocketed in downloads, money spent and popularity?

The answer is yes, but not because of the game itself. The game is simply another example of how our two worlds, virtual and real life, are colliding and blurring in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Before we examine how this will affect your marketing efforts, let’s look at the trends surrounding both virtual and augmented reality technologies.

What was impossible is now simple and inexpensive: Want to help someone who has never had a migraine understand the experience? With augmented reality technology, you can overlay what a migraine sufferer sees and feels into any room or situation. 

Do you want to put a Pokemon character on your sister’s head? Again, thanks to augmented reality, it’s easy.

When road construction crews need to dig up roads, they obviously want to avoid existing piping (like water mains) beneath the surface. In the past, they had to memorize maps before starting their digs. But today, they can use augmented reality technology and with their own eyes see exactly where they should and shouldn’t dig.

Do dangerous things in a safe environment: For years, the military and airlines have used virtual reality to train pilots.

Toyota has created VR simulators to teach teens the dangers and results of distracted driving without putting them behind the wheel with a cellphone in their hand.

Transport someone to a different place or time: Marriott uses an Oculus Rift headset to allow people to experience a beach in Hawaii or a busy London street. 

The legal system is experimenting with using VR to allow jurors to truly experience a crime scene in 3-D, rather than just looking at photos or hearing third-party testimony.

If you remember the 2002 movie “Minority Report” with Tom Cruise, we saw their vision of how personalized advertising would work, as Cruise’s character walks through a mall and once he’s been identified, the ads change to match his interests. That’s obviously not happening yet. But I do think this technology is going to affect how we bring our products and services to market.

It’s already happening. Over 1.4 billion mobile apps that leverage augmented reality have been downloaded. With the Ikea app, you can see how their furniture looks in your home long before you pull out your credit card. Iowa’s own Simpson College used the technology to trigger interest in the school.

Right now, most of the marketing applications for both virtual and augmented reality seem to be more in the consumer space. But I’m sure the B2B examples will start cropping up as well.

Given that the customer experience is one of the most prevalent categories for marketing your products and services, it’s easy to see why this emerging technology is going to take a bigger role in how we connect with our audiences.

How might you leverage this technology? Think it’s not for you? OK, how will your competitor use it?