As it currently stands, XR professionals are seeing more potential for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies for enterprise than consumer applications. As evidence, a survey [download page] of more than 750 XR professionals by VR Intelligence/VRX reveals that the majority of respondents say that XR (66.7%) and AR/MR (67.2%) for enterprise will be a high priority over the next 12 months.
While many respondents say that VR (46.2%) and AR (47.4%) on an enterprise-level has had strong to very strong growth in the past year, the same cannot be said on a consumer level. Indeed, the largest share of respondents say that growth in VR (49.2%) and AR (41.3%) for consumer has been weaker than hoped over the past 12 months.
So, what’s holding consumers back from adopting these technologies? Some 46% of respondents believe that a key barrier to mass consumer adoption of VR technology is the price of head-mounted devices (HMD). Another 46% of respondents say that lack of content is another barrier, while the current HMD size/design (38%) and lack of consumer usability of HMDs (37%) are also barriers.
More than one-third (38%) of respondents say that a lack of consumer awareness is one of the biggest barriers they face for mass consumer adoption of VR. Still, a GfK survey found that more than two-thirds (68%) of US adults are aware of VR/AR as a shopping technique.
All hope is not lost for XR professionals in regards to consumer adoption. While few believe that the technologies will be adopted within the year, the vast majority think that VR and AR will see mainstream consumer adoption within 3-4 years.
If you’d like to read more, you can find the full report here.
About the Data: Results are based on a survey of 761 XR professionals with about one-third (34.8%) being C-level employees. While company sizes varied, 42% of respondents were from small companies (1-10 employees).
