Juniper Research’s latest report is all about augmented reality. The research company has found that an increasing number of leading brands, retailers and mobile vendors are investing in mobile AR apps and services, with global revenues expected to approach $1.5 billion by 2015.
According to Juniper, the installed base of AR capable smartphones had increased from 8 million in 2009 to more than 100 million in 2010, while at the same time, AR apps were now increasingly created by the larger players.
The “Mobile Augmented Reality” report highlighted several developments that were key in this regard:
- Qualcomm’s release of an AR SDK for Android
- Samsung’s decision to preload AR browsers (namely Layar) onto several of their handsets in selected markets
- Mobile advertising campaigns from brands such as Carlsberg and Coca Cola which have featured AR elements.
However, the report warned that both developers and consumers had yet to be convinced that AR apps were more than “gimmicks,” given that many early deployments featured an AR element that had been added at the last minute to a pre-existing app.
Additional information on Juniper’s report is available from their website.