Virtual Reality has Strong Interest from U.S. Businesses

image
16 Aug 2017

Virtual Reality (VR) is often viewed through the lens of consumer-driven gaming, but in a recent B2B technology survey of 455 U.S.-based companies across nine vertical markets, ABI Research finds that while only 4% of respondents have VR in operation, 85% are at least in the stages of early investigation. In fact, of the 13 technologies highlighted in the survey, VR fell roughly in the middle of the pack, ahead of other innovative technologies like AI and indoor location.

“Despite VR being a new technology, with some setbacks already evident, the survey yielded some surprisingly positive results for VR in enterprise and commercials spaces,” says Michael Inouye, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “The B2B market will take longer to develop than the consumer space, but its expansion, at least in the U.S., could occur at a faster rate than we had previously estimated.”  

The findings show that the verticals with the most VR activity or interest, are healthcare, retail, automotive/transportation, and consumer packaged goods. Training, testing, and marketing are all early target functions for VR along with vertical specific applications like treatments/therapies for anxiety conditions in medicine or virtual showrooms in retail.

Sam Rosen, Managing Director and VP at ABI Research, concluded “For any application that benefits from deeply immersive experiences, VR is often a natural fit.  We’re starting to see some early experimentation where VR will expand its horizons. The combination of a VR headset with a camera pass-through for merged reality experience in particular, will open it up to a much wider range of applications. We still expect the consumer segment of the VR market to hold the largest revenue share over the next five years, but eventually we anticipate the B2B opportunity will overtake the consumer space, especially if VR and related technologies do become the next compute platform.”

These findings are from ABI Research’s Industry Survey: Transformative Technology Adoption and Attitudes - Virtual Reality report. This report is part of the company’s Video, VR & OTT research service, which includes research, data, and analyst insights.

About ABI Research

ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology solution providers and end-market companies. We serve as the bridge that seamlessly connects these two segments by providing exclusive research and expert guidance to drive successful technology implementations and deliver strategies proven to attract and retain customers.

ABI Research 是一家全球性的技术情报公司,拥有得天独厚的优势,充当终端市场公司和技术解决方案提供商之间的桥梁,通过提供独家研究和专业性指导,推动成功的技术实施和提供经证明可吸引和留住客户的战略,无缝连接这两大主体。

For more information about ABI Research’s services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific, or visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact ABI Research

Media Contacts

Americas: +1.516.624.2542
Europe: +44.(0).203.326.0142
Asia: +65 6950.5670

Related Service