USAA road-testing augmented reality app for car buying

If USAA's pilot app works as intended, it's going to get a lot easier for its customers to shop for a car. By using the app, which will go live Monday for close to a thousand members and employees, customers can point their phone at a vehicle and get an augmented reality overlay that provides all its critical info: the make, model and year of the car, as well as its price range and quotes for insurance and a loan to purchase it. The app is designed to save customers time and embed USAA into the car-buying process. "People's attention spans are so short right now," said Patrick Kelly, assistant vice president of digital product development at USAA. "Giving them all the information at the right moment to make a decision takes a lot of workload out of the process." If the app sounds a little familiar, it should.