Diving deep into AR: how it will influence the world in the long run
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are increasingly penetrating various aspects of our lives, extending far beyond gaming applications. Its scope now includes areas such as 3D design and immersive navigation, showcasing its vast potential. First, let’s define the difference between the two notions.
AR/VR: the essential difference
While both Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) enhance or replace real-life environments with simulated ones, they differ significantly in their approach:
- Augmented Reality (AR): Adds virtual elements to the real world using a camera or smartphone, enhancing the user’s surroundings.
- Virtual Reality (VR): Provides a fully immersive experience by completely replacing the real environment with a virtual one.
Mass adoption of virtual technologies
Currently, both AR and VR markets are experiencing significant growth. They are projected to generate a combined revenue of $40.4 billion in 2024. This growth is driven by the increasing demand for immersive and interactive experiences. AR overlays digital content onto the real world, while VR creates entirely new virtual environments for users to explore.
The market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 9.64%, reaching USD 58.3 billion by 2028. According to Statista, the largest segment within the AR & VR market is AR software, highlighting its broad application and adoption.
These trends underscore the transformative potential of AR and VR technologies in various sectors, promising continued growth and innovation in the coming years.
If we look closely at the diagram, we can also observe the constant growth of all other sectors. Multiplayer games and shared virtual spaces are no longer the sole trends driving the development of AR/VR technologies. Nowadays, virtual tech is being adopted in practically every sphere of life, including healthcare, education, electronics, the service industry, e-commerce, and many more.
These advancements reflect a broader acceptance and integration of AR/VR technologies across diverse industries, indicating their potential to revolutionize various aspects of everyday life.
Reasons of VR/AR growing popularity
The growing popularity of VR/AR can be explained by a number of macroeconomic reasons, including declining costs of hardware, availability of high-speed internet and mobile phones.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly boosted these technologies because of the growing necessity for remote collaboration.
As a result, the AR & VR market has seen substantial growth, particularly in countries like China and the United States, where mass adoption is progressing rapidly.
AR/VR trends in the market
The number of AR & VR market users is expected to reach 3,674 mln by 2028. And of course, not all of them will be gamers. According to Statista, the leading sectors by revenue shares in AR/VR technology are electronics, services, and manufacturing.
However, these technologies are present in other segments, including advertising, robotics, social media, telecommunications and many more.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at the AR segment of the industry and explore how it can positively transform key areas of our lives in the long run.
Design & Prototyping
AR is a true asset for designers, enabling them to see how their conceptual projects integrate with reality. This is particularly useful for creating realistic 3D models and simulations that aid in decision-making. As a result, the need for expensive physical models or multiple prototypes for product testing is reduced, leading to significant cost savings. These savings can then be reinvested into developing new prototypes or designs.
Currently, numerous startups like Virtualist are emerging, offering AR-based design platforms that help businesses visualize projects before they are built. For example, Virtualist allows architects to import computer-aided design (CAD) files into a virtual environment where they can view and modify them in real-time. Such AR/VR projects help identify potential issues early on, preventing them from escalating into more serious problems.
The same principle applies to maintenance and repairs. Technicians can download textures and files to repair and upgrade various objects, from industrial equipment to entire buildings, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in their work.
Education
Training an employee or educating a student more effectively providing an immersive experience is a new must-have in an educational sphere.
A systematic review of a decade of using AR in education (2008–2018) showed that AR is “increasing motivation (24%) and facilitating interaction (18%).”
Overall, AR/VR education enhances collaborative learning, increases engagement, and improves learning outcomes by presenting new concepts in an exciting and visual manner.
For instance, zSpace, a platform designed to create immersive classrooms, helps students learn new topics using advanced AR elements. This technology makes learning more interactive and engaging, allowing students to visualize and interact with complex concepts in a way that traditional methods cannot achieve.
Now Google is focusing on development of its brand new Google for Education program, where teachers can use several 3D models to help students better understand the topic being taught.
Retail
The retail industry is one of the most promising sectors for AR/VR implementation. Many brands are already developing apps that allow customers to virtually try on clothes, accessories, makeup, and other products to see how they look. This is an ideal solution for people who dislike offline shopping but are hesitant to buy items that might not fit well.
Sephora, for instance, has launched an app that lets customers see how their makeup products will look in real-time. This technology helps customers make more informed purchasing decisions and enhances their shopping experience.
You can also experience unique customer experiences by navigating within stores, scanning goods for more product information, and even visualizing how a product would look in your apartment using apps like Houzz.
However, in this industry, the sky’s the limit. In the near future, it will be possible to create a 3D image of your body and use it in AR/VR online stores to understand how clothes flow on your body shape!
Healthcare
AR can enhance diagnosis by enabling more thorough analysis, thereby improving understanding of symptoms. Major companies like Johnson & Johnson are already leveraging AR for this purpose. For example, tools like AccuVein assist in locating veins, reducing procedure time. Streamlined surgeries are also on the horizon, as overlaying a patient’s anatomy on the body can reduce risks and improve surgical outcomes.
Additionally, AR is an invaluable tool for medical students to experience real-life medical scenarios. Many students can now explore the digestive system in mixed reality using apps like HoloLens.
Travel
You can bid farewell to traditional travel guides; AR-capable devices and mobile apps can provide significantly more useful and exciting information about your destinations. This represents a fresh approach to enhancing your journey with insights and entertainment.
For example, as you near a point of interest, an AR app can offer historical insights when pointed at it. One of the most prominent examples of such apps is “Culture Trip.”
Furthermore, AR is ideal for rentals as it can minimize contact between landlords and tenants. AR apps can assist tenants in familiarizing themselves with the apartment layout and explaining how to use various amenities.
Industry
AR onboarding can enhance employee safety and reduce adaptation time. It serves as a comprehensive manual, providing visualized instructions on how to operate machinery, with all critical information overlaid on the real-world object.
Such technological giants as Shell already use AR for this purpose. They have developed an AR Remote Assist technology that enables workers in the field to receive real-time help from experienced technicians globally. If a process requires additional assistance, a worker can receive a video call from the expert and see the process through the expert’s eyes.
This technology has already increased efficiency and safety at the manufacturing plants.
Marketing
Marketing is one of the brightest examples of using AR technology. QR codes have become a usual thing in restaurants, where we pay for the meal by simply scanning them on our phone. Such codes may also serve as a business card, leading to a person’s official website or as a source of additional information about a promoted product.
For instance, Google Lens allows you to scan a product and check product reviews, information, or compare prices.
AR is widely used for promotion by big corporations. Netflix’s partnership with Snapchat before the release of the Stranger Things series is now legendary. By transforming the room, the user was immersed in a scene from the TV show and was notified that the new season is on the way!
Entertainment
Gaming is undoubtedly the perfect match for AR/VR. Pokemon GO was just the first sign of a revolution on the horizon. The use of top-notch 3D graphics makes the experience as realistic as possible. However, even traditional board games now use augmented reality, transforming 2D experiences into immersive 3D interactions.
Such artists as Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, Marshmello, Foo Fighters, David Guetta, Ariana Grande, and many more also leverage AR/VR to their advantage by performing concerts in metaverses like Fortnite or Encore.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology is pushing augmented reality (AR) technology to new limits. It is widely used in blockchain gaming, bridging the gap between Web3 and virtual technologies. Games like Decentraland, with its immersive first-person experience, and MANA, using Chainlink oracles for real-world data integration, as well as OVER — the pioneering AR/VR metaverse, show that AR is the future of gaming.
NFTs are another segment that benefits considerably from AR. The merger of AR and NFTs opens endless possibilities for integrating persistent digital objects into the physical world. As AR technologies become more affordable, we will witness how NFTs create new ways to track ownership of digital objects placed in the real world.
Jade98 ARdinals is a pioneering project that fully utilizes the merger of AR and NFTs. Leveraging the strength of Bitcoin Ordinals, the team combines it with the power of augmented reality to create ARdinals, the first AR utility for NFTs.
What’s next for AR?
In 2024, AR will continue its significant growth and development. All economic sectors are already experiencing the positive impact of this technology on their revenues and efficiency. Currently, major technology companies are investing in AR & VR research to continually improve the technology.
The more developed and useful AR becomes, the more essential it will be for customers in the long run. The user penetration rate is expected to increase to 55.9% by 2028, indicating that the technology will become more user-friendly and advanced. If half of the planet adopts AR in the next four years, economies may soon experience exponential growth.
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