This October, our immersive tech round-up covers key AR and VR investment stats, plus the latest breakthroughs in immersive tech. Let’s dive in.
AR/VR investment
Capgemini’s recent report on AR/VR investment focused on “organizations that have initiated their AR/VR journey” and covered: design, engineering, field services, automotive, utility, and manufacturing sectors.
The key takeaway, that:
2/3rds of surveyed companies believe that augmented reality is easier to apply to their business operations than VR
suggests that the near future will see AR trumping VR as an immersive business tool in some of the more industrial companies.
While AR’s wide-ranging (more real-world) functionality is simply more useful for most businesses in these sectors, the experiential allure of virtual reality is still more attractive and impactful for those businesses (within gaming, charity, automotive, etc.) looking to use storytelling to create a deeper connection with their audience, rather than implementing immersive tech as a problem-solving tool.
For a more comprehensive look at all things AR, download our complete guide to Augmented Reality.
More Immersive Tech Investment Stats
Here are the other key learnings from the report:
- The US and China are the most aggressive investors in AR/VR and are both well ahead in terms of implementation. With over 50% of surveyed companies confirming that they’re already implementing immersive technology to advance business operations.
- In contrast, in the UK and across Europe 50 (France, Germany and the Nordics) 50% of businesses are still only experimenting with AR/VR initiatives.
- Latest reports also found that in the UK, businesses are falling behind counterparts in the US, France and China in terms of AR/VR implementation. Primarily due to concerns over complexity and security.
“To drive the highest business value from AR and VR, companies need a centralized governance structure, proofs of concept that are aligned with business strategy, and to be able to drive innovation and employee change management.” – Lanny Cohen, CIO at Capgemini
- 82% of companies currently implementing AR/VR have stated that the benefits are either meeting or already exceeding their expectations.
- Many companies have suggested that storage of in-house expertise and insufficient back-end infrastructures are the most significant barriers to growth.
- 50% of companies not currently implementing AR/VR state they will begin to explore immersive technologies within the next 3 years.
- 46% of enterprises believe AR/VR tech will become commonplace in their company within the next 3 years. A further 38% believe it will do in the next 3-5 years.
- 75% of companies active with large-scale AR/VR implementations claim operational benefits of more than 10%.
Whether in implementation or early experimentation stages, most companies looking to augmented reality and virtual reality to enhance their internal operations are seeing clear advantages and continuing to invest in the technology. As more and more companies get active with immersive tech, a knock-on effect will start to be felt, and those being left behind will be playing a catch-up game to bring their processes up to date.
The Latest In Immersive Tech
Microsoft AR – Hololens
In line with the industries covered in the report discussed above, Microsoft has recently showcased new applications for the Hololens capable of serving major engineering or manufacturing services. In this case, the oil giant Chevron.
Most notably, the Remote Assist App. This app gives Hololens users the ability to call remote experts, share live video feeds with them, and then receive live help on the (most likely quite complex) situation at hand. This is a revolution in many ways and it will inevitably take root in countless industries.
Layout, another tool included in the latest Hololens package – enables users to build designs in 3d, then visualise them in their physical surroundings.
Apple AR
Last month’s Apple conference saw many new announcements. And AR was near the top of the agenda. iPhone’s old and new support great AR platforms, and the way Apple folk were talking suggests AR is primed to be the next big thing, as gimmicky-AR goes the way of Google Glasses and AR with real brand value comes into its own.
Facebook AR
Facebook’s next major augmented laity push is set to be multiplayer games. Other than in News Feed and on Camera, Facebook is now looking to bring AR to friendly interaction service Messenger. How, with silly AR games.
In Summary
AR adoption to improve business operations in on the up, especially in industrial businesses. AR is a born fit for these areas of work and offers so many practical solutions to hard to fix problems. With investment and tech development reaching new heights, it is no wonder why AR is enjoying such a boom.
But don’t feel too sorry for VR. Virtual reality is also finding new, more immersive applications every day, and continuing to advance all kinds of industries, from healthcare and education to gaming and automotive. See you next month for another round-up of all that’s new in immersive tech.
In the meantime, if you’ve got a specific AR or VR project in mind that you want to chat through, please get in touch!
Or for the full low-down on augmented reality, from 2018 engagement and investment stats to best uses cases, check out our full guide below.
