AR finds a home in the Enterprise – Mobile World Live with AREA’s Mark Sage
AREA’s Executive Director Mark Sage was asked to comment for a blog piece about augmented reality finding a home in the enterprise, featured on Mobile World Live. The article is certainly worth a read in full. Mark’s comments on AR in the enterprise are summarised below, although Mark’s comments are quoted throughout the article including opinion on the technology is not just about wearables. The mixing of AR and VR is included as well as research from Deloitte and Forrester.
The enterprise opportunity
Technology research company ARtillry Insights (a division of the VR/AR Association) estimated in a report the enterprise AR market will hit $47.7 billion in 2021 from $829 million in 2016. Highlighting a stark contrast, the study estimated a return of $15.8 billion by 2021 in consumer AI, up from $975 million in 2016.
AREA, an organisation which claims to be the only global non-profit alliance dedicated to accelerating the adoption of AR in the enterprise, is equally confident the long-term business benefits will outstrip the consumer case.
“Enterprise AR has clear and long-term RoI benefits based on improvements and efficiency gains,” Mark Sage, executive director of AREA, told Mobile World Live: “While consumer AR will provide benefits and help educate people on its use, the potential scope and benefits available in the enterprise space will bring much greater returns.”
And, if Google’s early success is anything to go by, ARtillry Insight’s lofty projections and AREA’s own agenda could well prove on the money.
Google’s enterprise edition smart glasses, launched in July 2017, are now deployed on numerous factory floors across the world, with the company already boasting some big-name partners in DHL, GE and Volkswagen.
The device is designed to allow factory workers, for example, to “stay hands-on” by removing surrounding distractions, providing access to training videos which include images accompanied by instructions, as well as allowing fellow glasses wearers on the work floor to connect, collaborate and troubleshoot in real time. More importantly, the revamped Google Glass has a very real place in the enterprise space.