AR overtakes AI to become most disruptive emerging technology

• People are warming towards the technology, even if they don’t believe that it will make a big difference tomorrow, GlobalData Survey shows.
• Covid-19 has put some AR use cases in the spotlight, namely in healthcare and e-commerce, and new uses are continuing to emerge.

Augmented reality (AR) becomes the most disruptive emerging technology by overtaking artificial intelligence, a survey by GlobalData shows.

70 per cent of industry professionals, surveyed in the second quarter of this year, stated that AR would disrupt their industry most out of a selection of seven emerging technologies – AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing, IoT, blockchain, and 5G, in addition to AR.

In the first quarter, only 51 per cent selected AR while 58 per cent of the respondents said they had become more positive towards the technology over the last 12 months.

 “This change in how people see AR will likely be long term, and not just a temporary blip. It is clear that people are warming towards the technology, even if they don’t believe that it will make a big difference tomorrow,” Filipe Oliveira, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, said. 

Furthermore, he said that Covid-19 has put some AR use cases in the spotlight, namely in healthcare and e-commerce, and new uses are continuing to emerge.

For example, in April, Delta Air Lines announced that it would equip all flight attendants with AR technology delivered via 5G to enhance training and help staff with in-flight catering.

Market size

According to Grand View Research, the global augmented reality market size was valued at $17.67 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.8 per cent from 2021 to 2028.

In 2021, the market size is expected to be worth $26.75 billion and $340.16 billion in 2028, driven by rising demand for remote assistance and collaboration from enterprises that assist in workflow management and optimisation.

Businesses are using AR-based apps for tracking, identifying, and resolving technical issues as well as for tasks, such as retrofitting, assembling, manufacturing, and repairing production lines.

Major players

Major tech players such as Apple, Google, Samsung, Facebook, Microsoft, and more are at varying stages of AR activity, from strong investment and R&D into full-fledged AR products, software and services being on the market.

Tech giants are not alone either; other players are competing across the value chain. Hardware OEMs like Realwear have been competitive in the enterprise, with some early consumer entrants like nReal and Realmax also in the market. 

When asked when AR will disrupt their industries, survey respondents were cautious and expect the impact to be felt later in the decade.

While more than half of the respondents said that cybersecurity and cloud computing are already disrupting their industries, only 24 per cent said the same about AR. Moreover, only 10 per cent think that the disruption will come in the next 12 months.

AR as a business tool

More than 60 per cent expected cloud computing and cybersecurity to deliver fully, but only 26 per cent expected the same from AR.

Further, 50 per cent of respondents said that the technology was hyped, but they could see a use for it.

Oliveira said the contrast between the large share of respondents that said AR is disruptive and the low share that said AR was already disrupting their industry suggests that there is some way to go before AR becomes ubiquitous in business.

However, he said that several conditions are aligned to make the promotion of AR as a business tool easier.

According to staffing company TeamLease’s Jobs and Salaries Primer Report 2021, Artificial intelligence specialists, AR (augmented reality) experts, genomic portfolio directors, master edge computing and digital imaging leader are some of the hottest jobs this year.

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