On the opening day of Augmented World Expo, invited speakers and AREA members provided the day-long AWE AR in Enterprise (AWARE) sessions. A short synopsis of the presentation made by Paul Davies, representative of Boeing, an AREA Founding Sponsor member, was featured in this post on the Recode blog. According to Davies, trainees performed tasks using either a PDF displayed on a desktop computer, a PDF displayed on a tablet or animated Augmented Reality-assisted instructions. Trainees using the AR-assisted system were 30 % faster and 90 % more accurate on their first tries than the other groups.

At this early stage in smart glasses introduction there’s room for a great deal of experimentation with different interaction modes. What works for one use case or feature may not be suitable for another. In all likelihood it will be possible for users to switch modes, depending on the nature of a task, the need for editing or other input options and support from a remote expert.

Quantum Interface has announced in this press release that it is offering an alternative to the user experience provided out of the box by Epson for the Moverio smart glasses. Quantum Interface is the name of both the company and the new software technology which can be integrated optionally to provide low power and intuitive options for controlling digital objects in the user line of site.

Taking a little more time to perform due diligence on the recent acquisition rumors, staff writer Michelle Meyers’ article on the CNET site goes into more depth about Metaio’s change in circumstances and the impacts the acquisition could have on those planning or already deploying Augmented Reality.  Meyers did not obtain a confirmation of the rumor from Apple, but points out that a research note published by Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster in March already confirmed that Apple is “exploring the augmented reality space.” If and when confirmed, the timing of the deal with respect to recent announcements by Google and Microsoft demonstrates that AR is an increasingly strategic component of the computing environment and the operating system in particular.

Most people accept that we will need to have smart glasses for immersive Augmented Reality in enterprise. The growth of this segment remains a difficult calculation to perform. In the press release issued by Tractica, a market research firm that focuses on human interaction with technology, the high level forecasts suggest that 114,000 smart glasses will be purchased by customers in 2015 and, in 2020, the number will exceed to 5 M. Over the five year period a total of 12.2 M units will be sold, according to the research summary. It’s one thing to estimate the shipment of devices in a new product category in 2015 and the likely shipments in the following five years, but it is also challenging to forecast the number of customers buying and expected retirement and replacement of those early units over the same period. How many early customers will be satisfied with their purchases for more than a few months?

Everyone defines “maturity” of a particular technology domain differently, depending on their point of view. From the point of view of one writer for the  Audio/Video professional market, Augmented Reality is approaching an inflection point. This article on AV Magazine’s web site does an outstanding job of describing Augmented Reality, it’s potential uses, the technology components and the areas that remain challenging. It also provides an estimated cost for Augmented Reality projects and recommends projects that will have impact over those that will flop or be forgotten.

One of the signs of technology maturing is the number of patents granted in the field. This article published on the Patent Vue web site, shares the results of an in depth study of the patents that could impact smart glasses manufacturers and providers of related Augmented Reality technology in coming years. The analysis reveals that Microvision Inc. is the largest US patent holder in this space, owning 233 US patents primarily related to hardware components for Augmented Reality systems, with a focus on miniaturized MEMS and PICO level systems.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co. follows with over 200 US patents. The majority of its patents are directed towards semiconductor-level technologies for displays and imaging substrates.

Google is the next largest patent holder the study identifies, with 117 US patents covering various physical hardware devices and related components, and software related to image-based user interfaces, user input technologies, and other user-experience applications. Canon, LG Electronics, Sony, Microsoft, IBM, Siemens, and Samsung are the next significant patent owners in this space.

Analysts continue to slice and dice the wearable technology market in new and interesting ways. This new report on wearable technology published by Mind Commerce predicts that the early adopters are emerging in the garment, healthcare, sports and fitness industries. Mind Commerce estimates that global spending on wearable devices will grow from $9 B in 2014 to $218 B in 2019. Presumably hardware for enterprise Augmented Reality is a subset of this spending. What makes this report potentially interesting for readers of the AREA news is the study of the impact of Body Area Network standards on wearable technology, the barriers that network coverage present and the number of vendors that the researchers studied in preparation of the report.

This full length feature article on Computer Weekly web site based on an interview with Kudan’s James Hogan, helps to connect the expensive solutions developed as research and development projects for the government and military in the past to the numerous and more common use cases for Augmented Reality in enterprises today and in the future. This article does an excellent job of reviewing the trends that have led to the current interest in enterprise Augmented Reality, the relatively immature but highly promising status of current technology and the impacts it can have on key industries.

Augmented Reality will frequently be used in settings where the user cannot hold a tablet or smartphone while performing a complex task. In this article in InformationWeek, smart glasses are named as one of three disruptive technologies destined to transform the industrial workforce, alongside artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. This analysis provides insights on how these three technologies are part of several trends leveraging new smaller, lighter and less power-consuming components.

Juniper Research predicts that the enterprise Augmented Reality software market will grow 10 fold between 2014 and 2019. The company’s press release revealed that analysts feel the opportunities for enterprises to improve the bottom line will drive introduction of mobile AR services and licenses. Contracted services for bespoke projects and hardware are not included in the company’s forecast so the total opportunity size is significantly larger than the report’s scope.