In a market report this week by Press Release Rocket the Augmented Reality Market is set to make $165 billion by 2024.

This market report splits the Augmented Reality Market into many sections. It is segmented by component, display device such as Smart Glasses, application, industry analysis report, regional outlook, price trends and competitive market share.

This report discusses applications in the Augmented Reality including the following: Medical Industry, Automotive, Aerospace and Defense, Gaming, Retail, Industrial.  The report states the following regions in the Augmented Reality Market: United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia, China, Apan, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and Mexico.

This report also includes in depth analysis on hardware and software, the type of display device such as Head-mounted display and Smart Glasses.

A market report released this week by Reports Web discusses revenue, market shares and growth rates for the Smart Wearables Market from 2017 to 2022.

This report segments regions and talks about wearables in the United States, EU, China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. It focuses on manufacturers in the global market covering the followers companies:

• Adidas

• Apple

• Fitbit

• Garmin

• Jawbone

• Nike

• Samsung Electronics

• Sony

• LG 

• Amirgo

All of these manufacturers in the market report get a detailed section each with capacity, production price, revenue and market share being discussed for each. This report also talks about the status and outlook for major applications/endusers, and also states market share and growth rate of each Smart Wearables for each application including Wearables being used in medical care.

Some main points that are talked about in this market report include:

• Smart Wearbales market overview

• Global Smart Wearables capacity, production and revenue by region in 2012 – 2017

• Global Smart Wearables market competition by manufacturers

A sample of the report can be requested at the following link www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001723924/sample

A global initiative to democratize Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) hardware and software for academic institutions, VR First, are planning to open 50 VR/AR labs at colleges and universities by the end of this year, in an effort to meet future workforce demands.

They believe immersive technologies can drive the future job market and therefore students should be trained using such technologies and tools. There are 26 VR First Labs operating around the United States, Europe, Asia and Oceania, with 14 more opening soon according to a news release.

Applications for content created in the labs range from gaming, education and architecture to cinematics, psychology and other sectors according to the news release.

In addition to providing workforce training, the initiative will establish new standards for creation and consumption environments in VR, AR and mixed reality.

Augmented Reality has received some attention on a Virgin Entrepreneur blog “How Augmented Reality is disrupting Industries”.  The article mentions a variety of common industries that AR is impacting, such as architecture and property, retail and finance.

AR is helping architects bring their plans to life through a 3D environment before any foundations have even been laid. AR allows them to see what the interior of the building could also look like before it has been completed. This can be extended through the property industry to estate agents, who are able to take potential buyers to properties before they’re complete and allow them to picture their car on the driveway or what walls would like painted a certain colour, allowing more effective buying choices.

AR can help overcome the challenges that showcasing property through VR can bring and it can bridge the gap between seeing an unfinished project on a screen and in its physical space.

In retail AR can help reduce stress as shoppers can find the information they need about the product before they purchase it. The article also nods to the potential to point, click and pay with a smartphone camera which could transform business too, especially for those operating in the hardware and logistics sector. A lot of time can be wasted on inventory and mundane but necessary admin and paperwork. Anything that speeds it up and allows business owners and staff to focus on more important tasks could be hugely profitable in the long-run.

Barrett J. Brunsman, Staff reporter for the Cincinnati Business Courier, highlights how Procter & Gamble Co. “played a lead role in the development of the world’s first guidelines on functional requirements for augmented reality hardware and software” when working with 64 other organizations to develop functional guidelines for augmented reality in the manufacturing sector.

Read the full article…

IndustryWeek highlights the efforts of 65 organizations to help shape the future of augmented reality in the manufacturing sector. The functional guidelines released Tuesday will help companies within the AR ecosystem to develop products and solutions for industrial enterprise users.  

Read the full article…

Matt Hamblen, Senior Editor for Computerworld, writes about the hardware and software guidelines for using augmented reality (AR) on the manufacturing floor. These guidelines were published Tuesday in a joint effort between UI Labs and the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA).  

Read the full article…

 ^{[Photo credit: Turkletom / Flickr]}

AREA Member Boeing recently announced their plans to launch a new venture capital arm called the HorizonX. This new project will invest in two start-ups;

1. AREA member, Upskill a Washington DC based start-up that builds enterprise software for industrial augmented reality (AR) devices (see their member profile here) 
2. Zunum Aero, a Seattle-area company that builds electric hybrid aircrafts

Upskill’s Skylight Platform uses Augmented Reality Glasses to help assembly workers with complex tasks. This technology provides specific information to workers on their AR glasses which removes the need of using paper. Upskill has also received additional funding from GE Ventures in a Series B Round.  Upskill’s Skylight platform can be used across manufacturing plants, maintenance and repair facilities and in distribution.

Researchers from the University of Maryland’s Augmentarium, after recently having a new lab built, have introduced their new Augmented Reality Technology.

A team of five physicians and researchers have publicly demonstrated this Augmented Reality Technology which has been design to assist in intubation. This new software, used in their demonstration, runs on Oculus and HoloLens headsets and requires a tube to be put down a patient’s airway.

Barbara Brawn-Cinani, Associate Director at the University’s Centre for Health-related Informatics and Bio imaging said “The demonstrated Augmented Reality Technology projects real-time information from the ultrasound onto the user’s field of view. This allows medical staff to see ultrasound images, for example, at the same time they’re looking at the patient, rather than having to repeatedly look away at small screen displaying the images.”

Brain Servia, President of the Augmented Reality Club on the campus, also said “In addition to helping medical personnel with tests such as ultrasounds, AR could help create three-dimensional simulated medical environments for health care providers to be trained in, according to the Augmentarium website. Non-invasive reminders that project some form of data onto the user’s field of view are another main application of Augmented Reality — in medicine and also in architecture and the military.”

The Augmentarium is working on other applications of Augmented Reality technology, from fluid dynamics to performing arts. The centre is planning on working with the sports medicine centre in Cole Field House, to better detect subtle effects of traumatic brain injuries that previously have been impossible to visualize without Augmented Reality.

ODG revealed this week their new Smart Glasses the R-7HL which have been designed for business customers who need a more advanced level of protective eyewear.

The R-7HL which stands for Hazardous Location have been created for workers whose environment are a bit more on the extreme side such as the oil exploration and production, energy, mining, utilities, chemical production and pharmaceuticals.

This new device has been based on the architecture of the current gen R-7 but has been designed to reach the level of ruggedness that ODG’s partners needed. ODG are hopefully launching the enterprise-focused product and their R-9 headsets in Q2 of this year.