It's not hard to look at the concept of augmented reality (AR)—particularly mobile augmented reality—and see big potential in the field for just about anything from gaming to navigation and beyond. The crew out at Juniper Research, meanwhile, sees likewise big potential, and to that end released a report attempting to quantify the future value of the mobile augmented reality market. That future looks pretty bright indeed, as Juniper Research projected $1.2 billion in revenue for the market by just 2015.
The report in question, titled “Mobile Augmented Reality: Smartphones, Tablets and Smart Glasses 2013 – 2018”, summed up the trends and challenges facing a market poised to clear 10 figures in revenue by 2015, up from around $180 million in 2013. That's a pretty big jump, and according to the Juniper Research report, that jump is going to be largely powered by gaming.
image via shutterstock
The report spelled out how just over 40 percent of AR downloads were games, and for the foreseeable future, games would continue to hold that top slot. But despite the fact that games were going to be the big driver for AR, games wouldn't continue to be pretty much the only show in town much longer. The remaining sectors of AR use, running the gamut from enterprise to entertainment, would also find new life and boost the market as a whole, with each sector landing its own major revenue stream—over $1 billion, according to the report—by the year 2020.
Contributing to this is the realization on the part of major brands like Unilever and Nestle that mobile is a viable channel for reaching an audience. That's leading said brands to drive development in AR, which is a big part of the mobile ecosystem as it's mostly driven via mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. But the report also notes that smart wearable tech, like the Google Glass system, is also set to drive big growth in revenue, as more users realize not only the power of wearable devices in general, but also what happens when AR applications get involved with said wearables.
There was a note of caution to come with this report as well, and the biggest caution was that no one should expect this development to take place organically. Those involved in the product of AR apps and hardware would need to work to build consumer awareness of AR materials and the value of same in a regular consumer's life and daily activities. Indeed, the shadow of government regulation threatened to fall on the AR field, limiting or even forbidding some AR applications on grounds of privacy, safety or even, oddly enough, libel.
It's really not hard to see the possibilities here. From apps that overlay directions in a user's field of view to apps that can provide the full menu of a restaurant just by looking at that restaurant, there's plenty that AR can do, and more applications will likely come available the farther down the line we go overall. But by like token, the potential for regulation gets involved, as we've already seen from some Google Glass explorers who come under laws that were geared for devices developed decades ago.
In some cases, laws will need changed—or at least legal precedent established—to help support this new technology and burgeoning industry. If there's one thing this country needs right now, its burgeoning industry. AR may be able to provide some of that, but it's going to need some help, both from the private and the public sectors.
Edited by
Ryan Sartor 
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