Empowering the Future of VR/AR Content Consumption through 5G

This industry insight covers the opportunity for 5G in relation to the industry-wide adoption of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology in select use cases. The insight seeks to answer the following questions: What is the status of global 5G deployments? How will 5G help VR/AR technology applications? What are the challenges and barriers to VR/AR adoption? Which industry segments are currently using VR/AR applications and how could they be poised to use AR/VR solutions in the future? Which companies are currently using VR/AR applications? What are the benefits of these use cases? What growth opportunities are in the VR/AR market, and which industries can capitalize on these growth opportunities? The vertical industries investigated in this report are education and training, public sector, automotive, manufacturing/engineering and robotics, healthcare, retail and hospitality, and gaming and entertainment. This insight showcases Frost & Sullivan’s research of specific use cases driving the use of VR/AR technology in these above-mentioned industry verticals. It also looks into the differences between VR and AR and the proposed timeline for the technologies as predicted today. Challenges and barriers to industry-wide VR/AR adoption includes the price of the technology and supporting devices, connection and latency problems that cause a poor user experience, and the display resolution of an experience that can lead to a lack of realism that a user wants from a VR/AR experience. Based on industry research, the widespread use of 5G connectivity shows promise in VR/AR applications and many in the industry feel that the use of VR/AR will be accelerated with the growth in global 5G deployments. Countries at the forefront of 5G deployments are the United States, South Korea, and China with other more developed countries catching up with either mobile or fixed wireless access to 5G. Telecommunications companies ahead of the curve include AT&T, China Telecom, SK Telecom, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, Telstra, and Vodafone. Companies/institutions featured in this VR/AR insight using the technology are Acumen, BMW, Bohemia Interactive Simulations, DesignWorks, Dreamscape Immersive, Esri, Facebook, Floreo, Google, HTC, Hololens, Hyundai Motor Group, IKIN, Mbyronic, Microsoft, Modiface, Oculus, RelayCars®, Samsung, Sephora, Sheffield Hallam University, Somatic, Surgical Theater, SweetRush, TechViz, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, UPS, Walmart, Within, and Z?hlke.