Virtual, Mixed Reality Market to Reach $30 Billion

By 2030, research firm IDTechEx predicts the augmented, virtual and mixed reality market to be over $30 billion. With COVID limiting physical interaction, virtual communication and interaction will be even more important moving forward. The company outlines these trends in a new report,  "Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality 2020-2030: Forecasts, Markets and Technologies".

According to the company, virtual, augmented and mixed reality products have continued to receive high levels of funding and investment during the 2010 decade. The report outlines the history of the VR/AR industry, as well as key technologies and industries that are using the devices.

COVID-19 has increased the adoption of VR and AR in a number of industries. According to IDTechEx:

"Recently the versatility of mixed and augmented reality products has come to the forefront of the news, with an Imperial led project at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Doctors have been wearing the Microsoft Hololens headsets whilst working on the front lines of the COVID pandemic, to aid them in their care for their patients.

"The use case for this project allows other clinicians to sit in another room, and by using Microsoft Teams, see a live video feed of the doctor who is treating the COVID-19 patients. This is utilizing the remote assistance aspects which have been previously used by Hololens users for manufacturing, maintenance, and other similar applications. By using the devices, staff reduced the amount of time they must spend in a high-risk area by 83%. Not only this, they are using less PPE, as fewer clinicians are in the room during patient care."

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.