Gartner hype cycle 2018 MR AR VR
An article by Ellen Daniel on Verdict discusses MR AR and VR in connection with the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2018. The hype cycle looks at emerging technology trends with the aim of identifying technologies that will be important for businesses over the next five to ten years, and those that won’t.
The research company uses insights from more than 2,000 technologies and condenses them into a succinct set of 35 emerging technology trends on a “hype cycle”.
Gartner Hype Cycle 2018 predicts rise of mixed reality
One of the key findings is that mixed reality (MR) is forecast to overtake virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) as the preferred technology.
Also known as hybrid reality, MR is the blending of AR and VR, providing users with the ability to switch between fully immersive virtual content and augmented digital content overlaid on the real world.
According to the Gartner Hype Cycle, standalone AR will reach the trough of disillusionment, which means that interest in the technology will decrease, in five to ten years. However, MR will remain popular for longer because it better integrates real-world objects and their virtual counterparts.
The hype cycle therefore reveals that MR will become a widely used human-machine interface technology in the coming years.
Head of VR/AR at PwC Jeremy Dalton believes that the spread of devices that incorporate AR is partly responsible for this:
“Augmented Reality is fast becoming a default part of the devices in our pockets. Google and Apple own the majority of the smartphone market and are both investing heavily in AR, helping this technology reach the mainstream more quickly and explaining its more advanced position on the latest Hype Cycle.
“The business case for developing further AR applications continues to grow as the technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous. It’s a virtuous circle – launching more AR apps means people become more comfortable using this kind of technology, and in turn this continues to drive up adoption.”
More can be read in the full article online here.