The total value of mobile augmented reality - a ‘digital overlay’ shown on top of on-screen images - will approach $1.5 billion (£930 million) in 2015, according to a new report from Juniper Research. That’s up from just $1.5 million in 2010, an average annual growth of 295% over the five-year period.
By the end of 2010, there were more than 500 AR apps available to download. Layar, the most popular choice, has now been downloaded more than 3 million times.
Of the $1.47 billion total in 2015, around a quarter is expected to come from location-based services and another quarter from augmented reality games. The next-largest proportion will be generated by enterprise use.
[Juniper Research white paper]