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Juniper Research: Mobile augmented reality to generate 1.4 billion downloads by 2015

By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 at 12:58 AM

Augmented reality is getting adopted by a growing number of companies which either integrate AR features into their iPhone and Android apps or make layers/channels for the two popular AR browsers – Layar and junaio. That said, we weren’t surprised to learn that Juniper Research predicts augmented reality elements within mobile applications will lead to nearly 1.4 billion annual downloads of such apps worldwide by 2015, up from just over 11 million last year.

The research company goes on arguing that although the first wave of AR-enabled apps were location-based search apps and browsers, now we have the same capability incorporated in games, social networking, education, lifestyle and personal healthcare apps.

Some other findings from the Mobile Augmented Reality report include:

  • Annual revenues generated by mobile AR applications and services are expected to approach $1.5 billion by 2015, up from less than $2 million in 2010.
  • Enterprise apps with AR elements will account for the third-largest proportion of revenues by 2015, after location-based search and games.
  • Governments and mobile content regulators may need to revise or update existing regulations pertaining to privacy, libel and copyright to take AR applications into account.

And you can get additional information from Juniper’s website.

About The Author

Dusan Belic

Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.