Takeaways and Highlights from Augmented World Expo 2019

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4Q 2019 | IN-5644

At the Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2019, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) providers and adopters presented the technological advancements, rising opportunities, and current challenges that need to be addressed in the AR/VR ecosystem. Lenovo, Bosch, Varjo, Blippar, Google, and Atheer were some of the notable companies that presented their products, use cases, and expectations about the evolution of AR/VR. Industrial use cases and applications remain among the most successful implementations of AR solutions, with promising Return on Investment (ROI) and impressive proven performance metrics. The latest AR smart glasses are technically more capable, equipped with more powerful processors, enhanced graphics, and other sensors such as gesture control and gaze tracking which are essential features for complex AR use cases. In regard to VR, solutions are significantly more established in corporate training and are steadily unlocking new opportunities for VR headset manufacturers to increase sales and improve the capabilities of VR headsets to better meet enterprise needs. Varjo demonstrated its new VR headsets for enterprise applications, the VR-2 and the VR-2 Pro, for the first time. Finally, the scaled deployment of AR cloud is simultaneously one of the greatest opportunities and challenges that will determine the future growth of the AR market. More and more companies are investing in building AR cloud and improving its enabling technologies such as computer vision, spatial mapping, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms.

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What Are the Opportunities for the AR/VR Market?

NEWS


At the Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2019, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) providers and adopters presented the technological advancements, rising opportunities, and current challenges that need to be addressed in the AR/VR ecosystem. Lenovo, Bosch, Varjo, Blippar, Google, and Atheer were some of the notable companies that presented their products, use cases, and expectations about the evolution of AR/VR. Industrial use cases and applications remain among the most successful implementations of AR solutions, with promising Return on Investment (ROI) and impressive proven performance metrics. The latest AR smart glasses are technically more capable, equipped with more powerful processors, enhanced graphics, and other sensors such as gesture control and gaze tracking which are essential features for complex AR use cases. In regard to VR, solutions are significantly more established in corporate training and are steadily unlocking new opportunities for VR headset manufacturers to increase sales and improve the capabilities of VR headsets to better meet enterprise needs. Varjo demonstrated its new VR headsets for enterprise applications, the VR-2 and the VR-2 Pro, for the first time. Finally, the scaled deployment of AR cloud is simultaneously one of the greatest opportunities and challenges that will determine the future growth of the AR market. More and more companies are investing in building AR cloud and improving its enabling technologies such as computer vision, spatial mapping, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms.

AR Cloud Takes Center Stage

IMPACT


An increasing number of AR players expect that AR cloud will be a key technology that will allow AR solutions to scale because it is able to better localize AR devices in a space, support multiuser experiences, and enable the persistency of digital content across time and devices. One of the most important contributors is the Open AR Cloud Association (OARC), which aims to support the development of an open and decentralized platform for real world spatial computing, data, and standards to connect the digital and physical worlds. The association hopes to enable a universal standard for geospatial position and orientation, provide services (scene understanding and shared spatial data service), and address critical issues such as privacy, security, digital rights, etc. Companies like Google and Blippar are also continuing to invest in computer vision technologies to assist AR devices to have a better understanding of a space and accurately overlay digital content. Moreover, more and more companies, such as Scape and View AR, are involved with spatial mapping, unlocking new opportunities both for consumers and businesses in AR indoor/outdoor navigation and broader AR cloud use cases.

It was clear from the show floor that the AR market has significantly matured regarding the available AR hardware and the capabilities of platforms. Attendees and businesses have a better understanding of the use cases and their advantages than they did in the past; however, potential adopters are still looking for Proofs of Concept (PoCs), successful use cases, and AR-implemented solutions that better meet and reflect their particular business needs before investing heavily. Uncertainty about scale for AR remains a widespread concern.

Market Maturity Indicates Product/Solution Differentiation

RECOMMENDATIONS


As the AR market evolves and matures, competition across platform and hardware providers also increases; consequently, in order to survive and remain competitive, providers should differentiate their products/solutions by adopting different business strategies and Go-To-Market (GTM) approaches and adding new and unique features to their devices/platforms.

Smart glasses manufacturers made significant progress over the last year and addressed some of the major issues that have limited adoption, such as the quality of graphics, weight distribution, battery life, and Field of View (FoV). For instance, products such as Lenovo ThinkReality A6 HMD and Vuzix M400, respectively a new competitor and an improvement on a market leader, are welcome launches in the market. However, the response time and latency, FoV, brightness, and extra/improved sensors (such as gaze tracking and gesture control) are features that can and will see further advancement. More realistic experiences and the immediate response of the virtual content to user input are essential for complex enterprise use cases that require attention to detail and extensive wearing. Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 is one of the few AR smart glasses that better meets these criteria, providing realistic experiences and greater levels of flexibility to users; even so, the new HoloLens still is far from perfect in regard to battery life and user comfort.

Platform and software providers can differentiate their solutions through price and customer approach; many use cases and applications are established and maturing, but many still require a customized approach in order to solve the inefficiencies and barriers of each business case. RE'FLEKT and Atheer are two providers that are building more strategic customer acquisition approaches to differentiate their AR solutions.

All in all, AR use cases and applications for enterprise verticals are established and have proven the numerous advantages that can bring in businesses in terms of employee efficiency and cost reduction. However, the selection of suitable hardware plays a catalytic role in the success of AR implementation. 5G connectivity and the scale deployment of AR cloud are among the most important components that will accelerate the growth of AR adoption and significantly enhance the User Experience (UX). AWE showed that both AR hardware and software are improving and iterating and, with some more maturation on both sides, barriers to scale will reduce and growth will quicken.

 

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