Wearable technology blogger Tom Emrich released his ten predictions for 2016 in a post on the blog Betakit. As most of the wearables on the market do not use or provide support for Augmented Reality, it’s not surprising that most of the predictions do not pertain to its adoption. However, Emrich’s ninth prediction is that in 2016 enterprises will be seeing “success through the lens of smart glasses.”

More specifically, the post says that while there’s been relatively low discussion of AR for consumers, wearable displays for Augmented Reality did make significant inroads in the enterprise in 2015 with the help of enterprise solution providers like APX Labs, an AREA founding sponsor member.

Emrich writes in the post that “2016 will see success stories surface of wearables as effective tools in the enterprise, especially smart glasses boasting heads-up displays and Augmented Reality features which equip users with a ton of tools right at eye level, leaving them hands-free to perform their job. Along with solutions from the Glass at Work partners, I would expect 2016 will see case studies from Microsoft, Accenture, SAP, Deloitte, and Salesforce using wearable solutions to improve efficiencies and meet business goals in various sectors from oil and mining to healthcare.”

Such case studies and testimonials will support the education of those who are unfamiliar with the potential for Augmented Reality to improve workplace performance.

Goldman Sachs has released its first important analysis of the Augmented Reality market. Although it differs in some respects from the views of the AR for Enterprise Alliance (AREA) members, it states that companies in the AR ecosystem are on the verge of a very big trend. More specifically, the report’s authors, led by Goldman analyst Heather Bellini, state that the combination of AR and VR have the potential to become the next big computing platform. This platform, which is loosely described as it encompasses all VR and AR technologies, will create new markets and that many existing markets will, in the process, be disrupted.

The 58-page report predicts that consumers will be spending very large sums to use Virtual Reality products and content in the next year. It also contains forecasts of the size and timing of hardware and software sales over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, the forecasts do not distinguish between those products that are solely for AR and those that will be used for VR experiences, or a combination of both.

Of the nine industries studied for use cases when preparing the forecast, the largest is video gaming. Five of the industries profiled are industrial or have an industrial component: Healthcare, Education, Real Estate, Military and Engineering. Of these, the report predicts that healthcare and engineering applications will dominate revenues by 2025.

The featured example in the healthcare study is about AREA Sponsor member, Atheer, and its scenario for use of the Atheer AiR platform by medical professionals.

This analyst note is the first in the company’s new “Profiles in Innovation” series analyzing how emerging technologies are creating profit pools and disrupting old ones. For more on the series, Goldman Sachs clients can log into the Profiles in Innovation portal. Those who are not Goldman Sachs clients may read more about the report’s conclusions from news outlets such as Bloomberg and Yahoo! Finance.

According to a blog post sharing summaries of its fourth quarter 2015 report, Digi-Capital expects enterprise Augmented Reality to expand in 2016. The publisher of quarterly research reports on the Augmented and Virtual Reality markets has also released a new infographic.

The infographic shows the companies that Digi-Capital considers the leaders in 4Q 2015. The note at the foot of the post explains that placement on the pyramid is based on a blend of enterprise value, funds invested and a range of qualitative measures. Parent companies only included with acquisitions e.g. Facebook/Oculus, Apple/Metaio. Apple is at the top.

The text of the post (which doesn’t mention the featured image except in the footnote) suggests that, in 2016, the biggest hurdle for Augmented Reality providers is in the head-mounted and hands-free wearable display segment. In the hands-free display segment, some Augmented Reality hardware providers such as Microsoft, Sony, Epson and Vuzix are offering solutions they hope will expand to meet the requirements of both consumer and enterprise customers. Others, such as Atheer, ODG and DAQRI are investing in solutions specifically designed for enterprise usage.

More specifically, the Digi-Capital post’s author writes that the field of view of current displays (between 20 and 40 degrees diagonally) is only suitable for what it terms “mobile computing.” Many enterprise Augmented Reality use cases could qualify as mobile since the real world objects on which experiences are created can be beyond the reach of (not detected by) a stationary user. Digi-Capital’s analysts believe that for AR-assisted entertainment use cases, displays with a larger field of view (providing 40 to 90 degrees) will be necessary.

Only one week after CES in Las Vegas, the auto industry will meet again in Detroit to demonstrate the latest technologies for attendees of the North American International Auto Show. One of the event’s sponsors, DENSO, a global tier one supplier to automotive manufacturers, has announced in a press release that it will be showcasing its Augmented Reality-assisted displays for drivers on the exhibition floor.

The showcase will demonstrate how Augmented Realty can increase safety by showing drivers risks in advance and keeping their eyes on the road using a head-up display while also adjusting settings in the car or using in-car navigation. The company also foresees combining Augmented Reality features with connected roads in smart cities.

The technology is not entirely new to DENSO and its customers. The automotive industry has been investing in Augmented Reality technology for nearly a decade. Many proven use cases are in the design and manufacturing of vehicles but due to high cost and low performance, the use for driver assistance has taken substantially longer to mature.

A new era in enterprise Augmented Reality began when Intel CEO Brian Krzanich invited Brian Mullins, CEO of DAQRI, an AREA Founding Sponsor member, to the stage on the eve of CES 2016. During the time Mullins had available he spoke about the opportunities for Augmented Reality to increase productivity, reduce risk and costs.

The DAQRI Smart Helmet was featured to demonstrate how, using the Intel RealSense technology for depth perception and mapping and the Intel Core m7 processor for graphics processing and rending, the companies are working on a product that provides a very immersive human computer interface. More information about the relationship between Intel and DAQRI is contained in the press release issued by DAQRI. DAQRI separately announced that it has begun shipping the first production units to its preferred partner network and is conducting pilots with customers in aerospace, construction and oil and gas industries.

Many news outlets posted about the demonstration using language evoking x-ray vision technology. For example, in these posts by The Guardian and on the CNET portal the authors suggest that the technology provides superhuman powers like seeing inside the pipes. Other coverage of the announcement produced over 50 relevant stories in less than a week, a remarkable achievement by enterprise AR publicity standards.

As 2015 draws to a close, it’s the season for 2016 predictions. Once again, Augmented Reality features in many lists. It’s less common to find a list of predictions entirely focusing on Augmented Reality, such as that contributed by Epson’s Valerie Riffaud-Cangelosi and posted on the Information Age blog.

In summary Riffaud-Cangelosi predicts that:

1. Many new and more mature wearable AR display devices will be introduced in 2016.
2. Enterprise Augmented Reality will be prominently featured by many more companies.
3. More independent software developers will be adding value as they understand best the needs of their enterprise customers.
4. Wearable AR display devices will be purchased and integrated into a broader enterprise hardware and software portfolio.
5. Businesses will begin to combine smart glasses with IoT systems, to make workers more productive and streamline their back-end operations.

After reviewing photographs and documents released as part of a Federal Communications Commission filing, the 9to5Google blog published a post with photographs compiling new insights with what it already knew about the Enterprise Edition of Google Glass.

The post confirms that the system will have improved internal hardware and ergonomics (e.g., the power switch is in a more convenient position). Furthermore, the device will be easier to store and carry as a result of a button-and-hinge system to fold the arms.

Although Google has yet to formally announce this new product with compact form factors, most observers agree that Google will not be selling to end user customers directly. More than likely, only certified Glass for Work partners will be able to pre-load proprietary software for specific use cases before distributing it to qualified customers or dealers in specific vertical markets.

Maybe there should be a site that maintains a list of jobs which will be changed by availability of Augmented Realty-assisted systems. In this post on the BBC Future blog, Rose Eveleth compiles a few use cases for enterprise Augmented Reality that range from tasks routinely performed in a dentist’s office to those performed on oil sand pipelines and in Lockheed Martin’s fighter jet assembly plants.

Some of the systems described, for example, the use of AR on tablets for installing a clamp onto a pipe without any prior experience, and smart glasses for dentists to use x-rays when examining patients being designed by EyeCAD Connect. Such systems are already available for commercial use.

The post is helpful for those who are unfamiliar with Augmented Reality because it describes use cases, as well as a few of the common obstacles, in a realistic manner. For example, the author points out that use case selection is critical to the success of enterprise AR. Deciding exactly which tasks could benefit from Augmented Reality is not as easy as it might sound. Many tasks are easily performed without technology assistance.

The other obstacle that is raised through an interview with Gabe Batstone, CEO of AREA member Contextere (formerly CEO of NGRAIN, also an AREA member), is the human resistance to change. When it is not clear if the use case can benefit from adding Augmented Reality, it’s difficult to persuade anyone that they need it. On the other hand, when the use case involves highly complex or unique information, such as the x-rays of a patient, the human obstacles are significantly lower.

Perhaps, when enterprise Augmented Realty will be more mature, it will be easier to publish a post listing the jobs that are not changed by Augmented Reality than a list of those the technology has changed.

A recent post written by David Gilbert for the International Business Times suggests that Augmented Reality (among other “new realities”) will be one of the trending themes of the upcoming CES event. After summarizing how important CES is becoming for the automotive industry, Gilbert mentions that many vendors will be introducing their latest wearable technologies for enhancing human experience.

Recognizing that Augmented Reality wearables are diversifying and becoming increasingly important, CES judges selected several Vuzix products and nominated the company for eight Innovation Awards. Osterhout Design Group announced that ODG R-7 Smart Glasses was named the top product in the Tablets, E-Readers and Mobile Computing product category and also received an Innovation Award.

The CES 2016 exhibition hall will feature a special AR and VR zone and, during the CES 2016 conference taking place in the Las Vegas Convention Center, experts from NVIDIA and Osterhout will be discussing emerging trends in Augmented Reality.

Conversations on these topics will continue after hours on January 6 during the AREA networking event for people interested in enterprise Augmented Reality and members.

In this post on TechCrunch, investor Court Westcott explains why Augmented Reality will be important for everyone. Westscott is excited about the potential for Augmented Reality to make information more accessible more quickly to more people. The post compares the impact of what he terms the “Law of Information Accessibility” with Moore’s Law which is commonly understood, even by those who are not involved in information technology.

Westscott, one of the investors in Metaio, which was acquired by Apple earlier in 2015, then proposes that with computer vision being added to so many new devices and services, the shift in information accessibility will profoundly change humans. It will, Westscott suggests, be analogous to when evolutionary pressure resulted in animals with sight surviving better than those without. Westscott concedes that the equivalent of a “Cambrian explosion” in human knowledge as a result of vastly improved information accessibility, will only begin when technologies converge sufficiently to deliver cost effective and highly optimized hands-free and head-worn displays.

The period which marked a burst of evolutionary change in life forms on Earth, known as the “Cambrian explosion,” lasted about 53 million years. Fortunately, technology (including Moore’s law) is advancing quickly. And, although no one knows precisely when display devices will be suitable for sustained use by everyone for 100% information accessibility, we can assert with confidence that at least some rare and complex tasks can already be supported and improved by intermittent professional use of existing devices using computer vision and Augmented Reality.