Commentary
Augmented Reality Set To Overtake VR
- by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, October 27, 2017
Money has been flowing into virtual reality and augmented reality, with the latter now catching the eye of investors.
In the last 12 months, $1.8 billion was invested in AR and VR, according to the latest tracking numbers from Digi-Capital.
However, the last quarter marked the start of a transition from VR-driven investments to the new mobile AR market
Venture capital and corporate investment types are now looking for mobile AR opportunities, according to Digi-Capital.
In the short term, up to 2019, Apple will have the lead in AR.
However, by 2020, the situation will change, with Google taking the lead in augmented reality, surpassing Apple’s AR revenue, according to the forecast. Key points from the report:
- Smart glasses remain the long-term future for AR and VR, but could take into the next decade to become a mass-consumer market
- VR’s market potential has been diminished by the emergence of mobile AR as a rival platform
- Premium VR might not accelerate until second-generation, standalone VR headsets break out starting in 2019
The big shift is a significant upgrade in the prospects for augmented reality and a major downgrade for VR.
And that’s the new reality.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.
Not sure who Digi-Capital is or how they run their analysis but bravo to them for their report. This has been obvious to many for a while. VR will NEVER enjoy more than niche growth because its use case is inherently unsocial. It's an immersive aka alienating individual experiece lacking all the sharability, community and scalable social distribution of other successful new technology kit. Key ingredients which led to the exponential adoption and shared additiction gained by breakout tech innovations like games, social networks, music/video services etc. Also: we still look like vulnerable clueless idiots with the headsets on. ;)
I look foward to the launch of RR - Real Reality. I've heard it is very good and astouningly life-like.
I dunno John. I was once as hopeful. Then I started reading lots and lots of Deleuze. "Real" aint.
Points well taken, Thomas. VR has been around for a very long time and still no mass traction.
That may be coming, John. Stand by.