Read original article here
Hypergrid Business: David Kariuki – April 7, 2020
AR Technology and VR Overcomes Challenges and Accelerates Adoption
Is the time right for augmented reality technology to become widely adopted by enterprises? The answer may be “yes” based on recent research.
David Kariuki, writing for Hypergrid, summarizes a report released by Perkins Coie as well as XR Association and Boost VC, which reveals that over 66% of companies plan to buy more augmented reality technology and VR in 2020 than in the previous year — with AR being much more widely prized than VR. This point was echoed by David Nedoin, ScopeAR’s Chief Customer Officer and Co-Founder, who elaborated that major enterprises are now taking the leap to truly incorporate augmented reality technology throughout their organizations and achieve real Return-on-Investment from its use. To that end, ScopeAR has unveiled a program, called “Quick Start,” that enables companies to use ScopeAR technology to solve business challenges during the current COVID-19 situation. In addition, ScopeAR is making its WorkLInk platform available, free of charge, to teams that are manufacturing ventilators.
The reality is, as a result of the pandemic, society is seeing heavier usage of virtual tools of all sorts and that includes augmented reality platforms. Enterprises can use solutions such as these to help train and develop their remote employees, and do it by spending far less money than if they performed these functions in-person. One could even speculate that, ironically, the pandemic itself has forced companies to realize the sheer ROI they can achieve through augmented reality technology, virtual conferences, and other online collaboration tools. Without the pandemic, it would have been a much slower, steeper adoption curve.
Augmented Reality Technology Poised for Growth
Part of the reason for this is that it’s simply not enough to use a video conferencing setup. Users also want the ability to interact in an environment that they both share, which is a much more interesting experience than just a Zoom call with a custom background. This is why you see industries such as medical professions adopting augmented reality technology in addition to the usual suspects in gaming and video. To some extent, VR lags behind AR — because the technology isn’t quite there yet. More sophisticated computer technology is required to make the user experience more smooth in regards to VR, so experts suggest that true VR adoption may be as long as three years out.
But AR? With the kind of augmented reality technology provided by solutions such as ScopeAR, and with the current state of the world and the need for virtual technology and collaboration tools, AR is taking off in a way that few experts would have predicted.