Digi-Capital has released its “Augmented/Virtual Reality Report Q2 2015“, in which it predicts a $150 billion market for Augmented and Virtual Reality by 2020. Despite healthy competition among AR/VR players, Digi-Capital doesn’t see Augmented and Virtual Reality lifting off until next year.

Besides defining seven key drivers against which today’s players will need to deliver in order to dominate the Augmented Reality market, Digi-Capital has created a “Reality Matrix” for providing context for understanding the drivers. Interestingly, Digi-Capital distinguishes between Augmented Reality (which “gives users the equivalent of Iron Man’s holographic display with transparent virtual objects in the real world in daylight, e.g., Meta”) and mixed reality (which “gives users virtual objects that appear solid in the real world in daylight (e.g. Microsoft HoloLens, Magic Leap), or switches easily between AR and VR, e.g., ODG”). Here at the AREA, we tend to simply label all systems not designed for Virtual Reality as Augmented Reality systems.

Digi-Capital sees the mobile market as dwarfing the AR/VR market and cautions today’s AR players about the risks of competing with the likes of Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, and Huawei.

In case readers are unfamiliar with the terminology, this feature story on the AppsTechNews.com portal begins as many others with a short definition of Augmented Reality and connects the technology to the wearables and mobility trends. The author then describes several use cases in enterprise before summarizing the benefits of having contextually-relevant data in the worker’s field of view.

The article also explains that many of the products currently proposed for AR deployment are not designed for enterprise environments. Furthermore, the user interfaces for many devices are not designed for integration with enterprise systems, which — if the user must continually change views and modes — can reduce productivity more than enhance it. Despite the obstacles, the prospects of improving enterprise operations with AR come across and should help readers grasp the concepts. In the future, perhaps there would be some products and provider companies mentioned so that the reader can take their new knowledge and curiosity to the next stage.

Combining Augmented Reality-assisted training with other forms of traditional and workplace-based training will be an important way for people to get familiar with the technology before deploying it in the field. In the learning environment, many factors can be constrained and the systems are more reliable than in the field where conditions are more variable.

This feature story on the InfinityLeap.com web site presents the use of Augmented Reality for workplace training and emphasizes the benefits while maintaining a realistic set of impacts.

This article on the Equipment World magazine portal shares the views of Paolo Fellin, vice president of construction and infrastructure industries, and John Carpenter, construction technology and solutions manager with Caterpillar. The company’s spokespeople explain that Caterpillar has recently accelerated its technology-related acquisitions and partnerships in order to improve its products with Internet of Things, Machine-to-Machine systems and higher efficiency systems.

Augmented Reality is being considered in the mix as a support component for service and maintenance for commercial vehicles and other equipment that could be out of the shop and need service while in difficult-to-reach workplaces.

When subscribers of Global Manufacturing magazine receive the July 2015 issue, the first thing they will see is the suggestion that Augmented Reality is a game-changing technology. The July 2015 cover story written by the magazine’s associate editor, Abigail Phillips, opens with several simple use cases of Augmented Reality reducing one of the manufacturing industry’s critical metrics: downtime. The article then shares how AR-assisted systems can improve the quality of daily reporting by streamlining the capture of any safety or production issues identified during a shift.

We look forward to this magazine publishing short articles, as well as in-depth case studies and testimonials about Augmented Reality introduction and full deployments by manufacturing industry leaders in future issues.

Microsoft is compiling examples of HoloLens use in professional environments on a dedicated showcase page of its website. These examples are prepared in collaboration with thought leaders such as Trimble and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory discussing the added value of having Augmented Reality-assisted systems.

The most recently issued video, also published on YouTube, features experts at Case Western Reserve University describing how medical school students and interns can benefit from using HoloLens when learning human anatomy. Although focusing on medical concepts, the same benefits can be suggested in any learning environment which can benefit from 3D graphics over the use of flat illustrations.

Following the release of the video, many observers published posts focusing on the narrow field of view of HoloLens as depicted in the video. While the limitations of the proposed system’s field of view are clear, media and bloggers fail to credit Microsoft for showing actual output and setting customer expectations at the appropriate level rather than simulating effects that cannot be achieved with current technology. More initiatives like this should be encouraged as they will fuel wider adoption of Augmented Reality in the workplace.

While much is being promised for those in the workforce that will do hands-free personal displays for Augmented Reality, some workers may begin wearing an entire exoskeleton to improve on-the-job performance. Depicted in movies such as Ironman, the concept of augmenting human powers with steel and motors could be available as soon as 2016, provided the many components come together. Research on what has since become the Ekso Works suit began in Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

As it approaches its launch, the company commercializing the system, Ekso Bionics, invited Cyrus Farivar to give the system a try. Farivar’s post on the Ars Technica blog offers valuable insights into the technology and the companies for whom such suits could be important enablers.

The more sources of information about Augmented Reality that are balanced and clearly written with less hype the better.

In his digital analyst post on the Euromonitor International blog, Pavel Marceux, shows that he’s done his research as he answers four simple questions in a short an succinct manner:

1. What are the differences between virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR)?
2. In what industries does augmented reality offer practical applications?
3. Is augmented reality a natural fit for wearable tech?
4. What are the primary challenges to its success?

The United States government invested early in the use of Augmented Reality for its soldiers and other military personnel for competitive advantage in the armed conflicts around the world. It’s difficult to quantify the impacts or return on investment from these projects, however, the upcoming introduction of AR into NASA programs may be one of the indirect outcomes of the high level awareness of AR produced in government agencies by these early investments.

Described in this post on the Trove blog, the NASA pilot project code named “Sidekick” aims to test the effectiveness of remote expert assistance for astronauts working on scientific research projects on the International Space Station using Microsoft HoloLens. Scientists on earth will be able to see what they see and guide astronauts through steps in a procedure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S1IS8Kbzxos

NASA says Project Sidekick “will be used and evaluated during the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 20 expedition set to begin July 21 when a group of astronauts and engineers live in the world’s only undersea research station, Aquarius, for two weeks.”

The expression “an embarrassment of riches” means that there is an overabundance of something, or too much of a good thing. There are so many use cases for Augmented Reality that it is too much of a good thing. Many people find themselves describing either very general use cases or very precise use cases, sometimes clearly and other times very vaguely.

In this post by Dace Campbell on the Autodesk blog for Construction industry professionals he proposes an excellent way to find the “sweet spot” for AR use cases in AEC.

The entire post is valuable but the proposal for identifying and making the business case for AR quickly and clearly is sound and could be applied to other industries as well.