Oculus and Pokémon Go becoming household brands. However, the virtual and augmented reality market is still in its infancy according to forecasts.
The Oculus Rift Kickstarter was launched all the way back in 2012. For many this marks the beginning of the dawn of VR. It is amazing what difference seven years can make to an industry. As of 2019, the market size for both augmented and virtual reality was estimated to be worth $20.4 billion. It seems the idea of being able to fully immerse yourself has resonated with consumers and large business alike.
Just look at the worldwide phenomenon Pokémon Go became.
It did this by using augmented reality to seamlessly integrate the real world with one that many wished they could have been part of when they were kids. It’s no surprise, then, that we have other beloved franchises like Harry Potter getting the augmented reality treatment too. And as the technology develops, so will the ability to monetise these phenomena and ultimately spur massive growth in this developing market.
It’s not just augmented reality seeing unprecedented growth.
Over the past seven years, we’ve seen the big players, like HTC and Sony, put their money where their mouths (or eyes) are by investing some serious money into developing the newest and flashiest VR headsets to attract consumers.
It seems I’m not the only one who believes that the VR and AR markets are in for some behemoth-sized growth either.
Forecasts estimate that by 2022, the VR/AR market will have a combined market size of $192.7 billion. That’s over nine times the size of the current estimates for the VR and AR markets! I know the year 2022 sounds some ways off, but that’s only three years away! And if the forecasts are to be believed, we could all be down at our local game stores watching the Qatar world cup using a VR headset, although I hope they have some good noise-cancelling headphones so I don’t have to hear how Kev the local day labourer could have easily scored that penalty.
However, these are forecasts, and forecasts have been famously wrong in the past (looking at you Wii U). One thing is for sure though, we sure haven’t seen the last of augmented and virtual reality.
Source: Statista.com