Augmented Reality in 2022: Mass Adoption and Increasing Opportunity

AR technology is evolving and being adopted by consumers and businesses in all industries. It is opening new growth opportunities and scope of expansion, especially in the last two years. By the end of 2022, it is predicted that the number of AR mobile users will be 3.5 billion. 

It is a new technology; hence the market is wide and all top tech companies are tapping into this new segment. Research says that the AR market will reach 198 billion by 2025. 

Let us understand Augmented Reality and how it is adopted in a consumer’s daily life? 
You are already using Augmented Reality (AR) in your daily life. Your Instagram filters, online games like Pokémon Go, or even Snapchat avatars are all created through AR technology. To make it simple, AR is creating an extended element or digital visual/sound/sensory stimuli over the current reality. If you can place your screen on your office desktop and see an actual avatar dancing on it in a 3D-like visual, it is AR.  

Although, do not confuse AR technology with Smart glass display tech where you can see information like health charts or message notifications. AR specifically augments over the current reality and does not just display information on a 2D screen. 

AR trends of 2022 

Ecommerce: Companies are using AR for their websites for virtual try-on experiences. You may have heard of Nykka’s ModiFace and Ikea’s Place Application. You can use these apps on your smartphones. Just select the product in the space you want to purchase and try it on to replicate a real-time ‘trial’ experience. 

Social Media: AR is used for advertising, influencer marketing, and driving engagement on social media. A lot of influencers and brands use AR filters and AR elements to do marketing. The best example is Coca-Cola Company’s filter made by Lens That. They used coco-cola cans to create a filter where people can see the elements that can come to life, like Santa Claus or Polar Bear, bringing magic to the Christmas holidays. This went viral and turned out to be a great way for marketing while engaging the users at the same time.  

AR NFTs: Technology has now allowed you to view NFTs in AR, making it even more unique. Creating and owning NFT is a popular trend of 2022. Commonly known AR NFTs are Atari Founder’s Arcade NFTs and Original Penguin’s NFT avatars. These were sold in the market at a high price and were unique to their core, also served the purpose of marketing on a wider spectrum as they were branded NFTs. 

Mass Adoption and Increasing Opportunities of AR in 2022 
The use of Augmented Reality Technology is growing in businesses, specifically mobile computing & business applications. There is a major rise in the mass adoption of AR technology in all sectors, including retail, manufacturing, real estate, fashion, health care, and more. As of 2020, 26 million VR headsets were owned by consumers globally. 

So, how are businesses adopting AR in their ecosystem? I
f you own a business in 2022, you must integrate AR in your operations. The new digital transformation through AR/VR technology is helping businesses drive revenue, stay profitable, and thrive in the market. AR technology helps boost productivity & efficiency, reduce costs, increase sales, and aid in customer engagement. The employees can profit from developing skills easily using AR devices to learn better. Enterprises are improvising their services or opening new sectors to reap the full benefits of this new technology. This new market is scaling because of technology like- 

1. AR/VR Glasses: You may have already heard of AR Glasses where you can access AR/VR content on the current reality. You can see 3D elements overlaying your current viewpoint, whether the view is of your home, or you are sitting in a garden. Some top products that support AR apps on their platform are JioGlass, Vuzix, Google Glass, etc. 
2. Augmented reality games: AR games are the new popular segment in the gaming industry. Globally, according to the NewGenApps, by 2025 the worldwide user base of AR and VR games is expected to reach 216 million users.  This makes the stakes of the competition exceedingly high in the gaming business. Some AR games that are dominating the industry are Knightfall AR, Jurassic World Alive, Ingress Prime, etc.  
3. Field Service: Companies send experienced professionals to help new employees improve their performance and foster safety. If AR technology is combined with real-time communication technologies like WebRTC which facilitates remote assistance and collaboration. Vuforia Chalk is an application already in use for training through AR remote assistance. 
4. Metaverse use cases: AR & VR metaverse is built where users can interact and monetize. Some common metaverse examples are Fortnite concerts, Sandbox, Decentraland, etc. Here you can buy virtual real estate properties, go to concerts by real-world artists, spend cryptocurrency, have virtual pets, and even travel the world. 
5. AR applications for enterprises: Enterprises are using AR and VR devices to build real-life solutions to huge industry problems. For example, did you know that NASA used AR/VR Glass to build their new spacecraft faster? The engineers could use the device to assemble the crew capsule, Orion, without going through thousands of pages of instructions. Boeing uses AR Glasses to guide technicians as they wire hundreds of planes in a year. As a result, the company cut production time by 25% and lowered error rates to nearly zero. 

Since these are a few of the fastest-growing technologies that offer a wide scope for tech professionals and businesses, the job roles are also expanding. The AR/VR market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.9% from 2020 to 2025. There are many new job roles for tech professionals and non-tech aspirants, such as- 

1. Tech Development 
   As obvious as this sounds, even in tech departments, there are multiple types of hirings. With the expansion of the AR/VR industry and new products being developed, completely new tech roles exist. Developers with skills in Unity, C# development, and experience in developing AR applications. Maintenance and support tech who can use 3D tools like Maya, 3D Max, and Autodesk 3D with troubleshooting expertise. Technical lead, XR gameplay engineer, coder, and many other job roles are also available because of AR/VR industry expansion. If you want to build XR Apps, join JioGlass Developer Program and create for 1 billion users. Click here.
2. Marketing & Sales
   Marketing leaders are setting completely new pilot projects where they must create a demand for products that are going to replace the current technology. This requires experience in collaboration with designers, prototypers, product testers and engineers. Market growth requires talents like social media experts, technical writers, BD managers, sales executives, directors, advertising specialists, enterprise marketers, and more. 
3. Legal & Finance
   XR universe and metaverse have many new laws and rules that change with the growing industry and are dependent on the government of each country. There is wide scope for jobs in legal, accounting, and finance. You can apply for roles like a crypto expert, auditor, virtual trader, payment security specialist, lawyer, and CA. These roles are specific to AR/VR industry where you require knowledge about the technology, growing trends, laws, and market to get the job. 
4. Design & Graphics
   3D animation is used to create AR filters and metaverse effects. XR design and graphic engineers create 3D applications or games using computer engineering and 3D maths. Experience in C++, C# and Java come in handy. You can check out roles like VR Game engineer, VR sound effects specialist, MR artist, technical 3D artist, and more. 
5. Project & Product
   As a product developer or manager, you will be working on exciting AR/VR products like JioGlass MR devices. Technical product managers with skills to lead customer experience and establish project frameworks are in demand.  

 AR is the future of businesses 

The future of technology is changing, and we have seen mass adoption of AR in all tech-savvy businesses. As the industry grows, AR will change the way customers and workers are introduced to product information. On a consumer level, the scope of using AR for immersive shopping will change the way one experiences products for the first time. Impressions will come from virtual try-ons making the purchase decision quicker. For enterprises, training videos for knowledge transfer will be displayed using AR to emphasize real-life solutions. Best technicians from across the world can help fix industry solutions in small villages, which otherwise were inaccessible because of a lack of resources. 

Interpreting the complex information that is overlapping the actual reality will become the new corporate normal. Smartphones will be combined with AR wearables. Mobile AR provides means for customer engagement, retention, and brand awareness. Creative AR solutions will build brand loyalty and attract new consumers. 

The first ones to adopt AR in their businesses will be able to exploit the limitless possibilities of AR and gain an edge over the competition. Get in touch with our enterprise team to register for purchasing JioGlass for your company, today. Click here