Augmented reality technology in enterprise will drive app revenues of $2.4 billion in 2019 – an 870% rise from the $247 million in 2014.
According to Juniper Research, interest in AR applications in enterprise is rising due to improvements in software and wearable technology. Promised efficiency gains in the future are also stirring growth.
Despite the high predicted revenue growth, Juniper expects actual app uptake to remain relatively low until 2020. The app ecosystem is immature and there are no standards with regard to cross-device development, ‘giving rise to a level of risk with regards to security and integration’.
Report author Steffen Sorrel noted, “Most enterprise AR apps must be bespoke in order to comply with requirements. That presents challenges – entry costs are increased so a return on investment must be assured”.
Head-mounted displays, such as Vuzix’s M100, are set to overtake smartphones and tablets as the preferred AR device for app usage after 2019. However, the weaknesses of these displays must be overcome first. While their hands-free nature is a benefit, they also have a narrow field of view. Latency is another problem. In the consumer space, HMD interest will be driven by entertainment devices like Microsoft’s Hololens.
Juniper finally notes that telecoms operators must ‘seize the opportunity’ offered by in-vehicle AR, which will expand starting in 2019.
The whitepaper can be found at http://tinyurl.com/qy4zos9.
