The past year will be remembered for many things. While it might not be first on anyone's list, one of the things 2020 lays claim to is being the year when augmented reality[1] finally became a serious force in the enterprise and as a consumer product.
The story of 2020 ...
Back in May, with the pandemic in full swing and the world settling in for a long and uncertain haul, I caught up with Munjeet Singh[2], Senior Vice President who leads consulting firm Booz Allen's immersive computing practice, to understand just how much COVID-19[3] was rewriting the script for immersive technologies like augmented reality.
Talking of immersive technologies, Singh emphasized that for enterprise purposes like meetings, presentations, and virtual conferences, AR and other mixed reality applications were something companies were exploring even before the pandemic, but that adoption and consideration had skyrocketed with so many employees working remotely. He said the technologies were becoming "viable and necessary" tools for many enterprises.
"Virtual training has already been a significant use case for XR in recent years," Singh told me. "We've seen industries like healthcare, oil & gas, mining and defense all turn to this technology for their training needs." He added, "In addition to training we've seen an uptick in the number of clients looking for Digital Twins - a digital replica of a physical environment or device - for planning purposes, both related to COVID-19 and other needs. By creating a Digital Twin, organizations can visualize and map out physical movements and changes before committing to anything permanently."
Looking back at the year gone by, it's clear that 2020 was an important horizon year. I connected with Jon Cheney, CEO & co-founder Seek[4], a firm specializing in platform