Augmented Reality: "4 Reasons Folks Aren’t Jumping On The AR Bandwagon"

And AR is catching on faster than virtual reality. What does that say for VR adoption?

From General Electric's GE Reports:

It’s already been a year since the wildly popular Pokemon Go launched, but have we seen any breakthroughs in the augmented reality (AR) market yet?  AR is in the same place as VR was in early 2015: many platform manufacturers, high prices and too little content and supportive software.  Now, anticipation over how the recently announced competing AR platforms means the mobile app landscape may develop actually slower than expected.

AR photo and video filters on today’s most popular social networking apps have become ubiquitous, but much like virtual reality, AR will have a rocky road ahead before it can reach robust adoption by large and small enterprises. But the AR market is not to be ignored. Headworn and mobile AR will have a significantly larger impact than virtual reality on most company’s digital operations. Here are four things keeping AR in the shadows.  

1. Competing Platforms = Gridlock
There are currently over 25 headworn AR display manufacturers currently competing in the space with no clear leader. While AR displays from Microsoft, ODG and Meta have garnered significant media buzz this year, several newcomers are expected to enter the space. Apple, Facebook and Magic Leap are each working on AR headset prototypes. All of these competing platforms have left third-party application developers waiting for a clear leader to emerge, resulting in a minuscule amount of consumer content and enterprise applications for hardware. 

2. Developer Evangelism
Companies that market apps and manufacturers need developers more than developers need them. To be successful early on, developers will need to adapt their applications to be “platform- agnostic” and compatible with multiple headsets. Hardware manufacturers should have their software developer kits — which companies like Apple, Samsung and Google provide to developers to create apps for their devices —  work seamlessly with all the popular creation platforms. Developer evangelism and support programs will also be imperative for platforms in order to appeal to professional app developers....

...MORE