The Opportunities and Challenges for Applications of AR Glasses

COVID-19 has catalyzed the creative landing of AR, as the following lockdowns and contactless requirements transform AR applications from “innovative demand” to “rigid demand.” 

On the other hand, the boosting effects of 5G commercialization and digital infrastructure have also enabled AR to reach more scenarios.

For Enterprise

AR applications for business are more mature than those for the consumer end. 

AR is born with the advantage of excellent interaction with the real world and is poised to help empower business production and operation.

Representative AR remote collaboration platforms include Microsoft Dynamics 365, Scope AR WorkLink,  VooX, ALVA Rainbow, etc. 

As the most perceivable AR hardware products, AR glasses at present are mainly made for businesses and have been close to fully functional. 

For example, Microsoft HoloLens, a renowned AR product for business, can compress the actual office into a pair of glasses that people can use anytime, anywhere. German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp employs HoloLens technology to design custom stair lifts. 

Currently, military, security and industrial maintenance are the major applications fields of AR. AR has been applied in many industrial segments such as steel, energy, food and beverage, automotive and engineering machinery, facilitating staff training, digital quality inspection, after-sales support, and so on. 

In China, AR is believed to be widely used in professional services, education, healthcare, and industrial design by 2026, accounting for about 30% of the total market size.

Healthcare:

 AR is driving the transformation of medical images from 2D to 3D and from 3D to interactive.

Industry:

AR plays an important role in the intelligent development of the industrial Internet and the construction of digital factories.

Military:

AR  can be applied in various scenarios such as simulation training, military command, maintenance and combat decision-aid.

Education:

5G+AR will allow teachers and students from different regions to gather in  virtual classrooms and make real-time interactions 

For Consumer

AR applications for consumers enjoy great potential for commercialization as they provide an immersion experience for users, which can disrupt various daily activities and scenarios.

However, people’s expectations for consumer AR glasses are yet to be met. 

Besides applications in businesses, the public generally expects the arrival of mature consumer AR glasses, which may replace cell phones to unlock the next trillion consumer electronics market. But the dream still seems out of reach due to the high production costs and immature product forms. 

Currently, the most popular AR applications at the consumer end are AR games and AR social.  In 2016, the AR game ‘Pokemon GO’ went viral globally, kicking off the trend of AR games. By 2020, the game will have generated over USD 6 billion in revenue. AR will account for the highest share of video game applications by 2025, at 28.1%. 

Besides the game industry, in the future, AR is also widely reckoned as a great game-changer in people’s experience of shopping, traveling, workout and entertainment. 

Game:

AR is transforming people’s game experiences and will generate more blockbuster games like “Pokemon Go.” 

Shopping:

Compared to the current online shopping experience, AR shopping offers better immersion, interactivity and other benefits. 

Social:

AR for social has been explored for many years. Social Apps like Meta, Instagram, and Snapchat have rolled out AR cameras. 

Entertainment:

With the progress of higher-resolution display technology, AR will be widely applied in film and television applications

Challenges 

For AR consumer glasses to achieve widespread applications, several technological barriers remain in the way. 

First, short battery life. With the current battery storage technology, AR glasses mostly work for 2-4 hours at most, which is clearly far behind people’s expectations and daily demand.

Second, undetermined display technologies. The topical imaging technology is the optical waveguide, which can be further divided into an array of optical waveguides and diffractive optical waveguides and holographic optical waveguides. 

Third, narrow Field of View. Human eyes have a viewing angle of 120 degrees when looking straight ahead, and the current AR glasses now can only provide a viewing angle of 30-40 degrees. 

Fourth, too heavy to wear. If we want AR glasses with more functions, the glasses will need stronger processing chips, which means greater power consumption, larger battery capacity, and a more powerful heat sink. 

Fifth, too little to enjoy. Available AR content is too limited for users to feel the charm of AR. Even in gaming, few AR games can copy the success of "Pokemon GO." How to create more and better AR content is the kernel issue for the industry. 

Opportunities: 

Covid-19 is a disaster that has changed people’s lifestyles. Since the outbreak of Covidd-19, the stay-at-home economy has risen, making distant work an ordinary way of working. AR technology is an effective way to help improve distant work, such as improving safety, time efficiency, and cost efficiency. 

Many companies use AR smart glasses to record the staff's workflow, operation steps, tools, etc., from the first perspective. Through the intelligent analysis system, they can detect whether they comply with safety regulations and improve work standardization. 

Therefore, the remote assistant system of AR glasses has become a major application of enterprises. However, there is no major application of consumer-grade AR glasses due to the restriction of hardware and content: the industry needs high-quality hardware that enables consumers to wear the glasses for a long time, and high-quality content to improve user stickiness.