Augmented reality opens a new world of possibilities for businesses, and early adopters are seeing an impressive return on investment. Right now, enterprise efficiency, productivity, and education solutions in augmented reality are highly sought after, and the impending launch of consumer AR product lines including Apple Glass and others will open augmented reality to consumer industries for mainstream adoption in the very near future.
Worldwide spending on AR/VR is predicted to reach $18.8 billion by the end of 2020. Partnerships between field service management and remote assistance companies shows major development in augmented reality adoption in industry, bridging the gap between specialized information and field workers in a completely new way.
This means field workers will be remotely connected with instructors, trainers, and teachers via augmented reality solutions for the first time ever. It puts visual learning into a whole new light.
In highly specialized fields where stakes are high and industry information is widely dispersed and constantly evolving--fields like healthcare, energy, and automotive--having experts guiding trainees in the field with augmented reality business solutions can increase efficiency, streamline training, and limit costly and dangerous mistakes. An enterprise example of this is Suntory employees reduced the time to master tasks by up to 70%. With Guides on Hololens 2, Suntory converted a 200-step procedure into step-by-step holographic instructions.
Imagine residents learning surgical procedures with real-time support via augmented reality software and hardware; seasoned surgeons will be able to supply trainees with audio and visual instruction tailored specifically for the patient on the table throughout every step of the procedure, adjusting and problem solving when any patient-specific issues come up.
Demand for remote assistance solutions has been accelerated by COVID, which has made remote work the norm. Executives and workers are liking the change and making plans for long-term remote work solutions; according to PwC’s June survey of executives and office workers, 83% of office workers want to work from home at least one day a week, and 55% of employers anticipate that most of their workers will do so even after COVID-19 is no longer a concern.
Augmented reality training / education solutions add tremendous value as human resources departments struggle to adapt the onboarding process to a remote workforce.
We’ve seen the training capabilities of AR in many industries already; training a new employee can cost $1000 per employee, based on 2016 cross-industry data. Using AR business solutions for training allows for on the job experience, increasing productivity throughout the training process, creating an on-demand knowledge transfer, and empowering employees to become experts.
When Apple Glass and other AR products launch, the power and scale of augmented reality is in the hands of the population adopting the technology. Around 75% of the global population will be frequent users of AR by 2025 according to the Snap Consumer Global AR report.
Updated statistics from Microsoft in 2022 state that over 50% of Fortune 500 companies have purchased a HoloLens 2 unit. Also, according to a Harvard Business Review study, 87% of respondents are currently exploring, piloting, or deploying mixed reality. This means the largest corporations in the world are seeing the ROI Mixed Reality is bringing to enterprises.
The versatility of augmented reality solutions will evolve even further as we move along the diffusions of innovation curve. It will revolutionize marketing and branding, providing opportunities for interactive, immersive product experiences that sell like none of its predecessors in technology ever could--by merging the physical and virtual worlds.
This technology is as revolutionary as radio, as television, as the internet--it will completely change our way of experiencing the world. Is your company going to be on the right side of the curve?
Early adopters of augmented reality will see incredible return on investment, whether in enterprise or consumer industries. Apple and Google are secretly working on their Mixed Reality HMDs... Stay tuned for future updates and get ahead of your competition, call goHere®.