SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today,
XRDC released its third annual 2018 XRDC AR/VR Innovation Report, created from survey responses from over 650 professionals involved in the development of augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) experiences. The research report offers insight into the rapidly growing and diverse industry including popular platform choices, sustainability, profitability, and funding.
For more information and to download the report, please visit: reg.xrdconf.com/AR-VR-Innovation-Report-2018.
Industry professionals are highly enthusiastic about the potential profitability of the market, and often self-fund their work as opposed to relying on third-parties. To explore this growth further, XRDC compiled its third annual AR/VR Innovation Report. Findings within the report are divided into multiple facets, each providing takeaways on current trends in AR, MR, and VR:
Which platform is taking the industry by storm?
45% of developers selected HTC Vive as their platform of choice, making it the most common platform targeted by developers for the third year running, albeit by the lowest percentage the platform has been selected since the inception of the
VRDC Innovation Report in 2016. Oculus Rift remained the second most popular platform at 41%, and Android phones and tablets using Google’s new ARCore toolset ousted Samsung’s Gear VR headset for third place this year, being selected by 30% of developers.
When respondents were asked which platform their next project would be released on, Oculus Rift was selected the most at 41%, followed by HTC Vive at 39%, and Android devices using ARCore at 24%. This confirms results from the 2017 Innovation Report, which revealed that HTC Vive was previously the most popular target for future projects at 52%, followed closely by Oculus Rift at 50%, and suggested that Rift was poised for a resurgence.
Interest in VR is dipping, and AR is on the rise
With the rise of AR, the platforms being used under this technology are becoming increasingly more important. While 30% of developers are using Android’s ARCore toolset, 24% are making AR experiences for iOS devices using Apple’s new ARKit toolkit, and 17% are targeting Windows Mixed Reality AR headsets such as Microsoft’s HoloLens. 8% of respondents said they were making experiences for Magic Leap, which is more than double the 3% of developers that selected the platform last year.
Will AR, MR, and VR last into the future?
When asked where their funding comes from, 45% of survey respondents cited the company’s existing funds, followed by personal funds at 27% and clients at 21%. These results indicate that venture capital and angel investment in AR, MR, and VR development is at an all-time low among respondents – only 9% selected this option in the survey. When compared to data from surveys in years past, there is a slow trend away from external investment and toward self-funding as industries mature.
95% of survey respondents believe that AR, MR, and VR development is a long-term sustainable business. When asked if development would turn a profit, 15% said it was already doing so, 12% anticipated profit in the short-term, 38% said medium-term, and 23% said long-term. These results suggest that companies are finding AR, MR, and VR development to be a more sustainable business and can justify spending the funds on developing AR, MR, and VR headsets.
Following five successful editions of Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC), XRDC will take place October 29-30 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. To register as media for XRDC 2018, visit: https://xrdc.tech.ubm.com/2018/index/registrations/Media.
Connect with XRDC (#XRDC18)
About XRDC
XRDC, brought to you by the organizers of the Game Developers Conference (GDC), is the premier conference for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality innovators. Following five successful editions of Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC), XRDC was developed to meet the growing demand for high-quality content in the space and encompass the rich diversity of immersive experiences. Programming reflects augmented, virtual and mixed reality applications, in a variety of industries spanning games, entertainment, healthcare, education, training, industrial design, brand experience and more. XRDC will take place October 29-30, 2018 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, CA. To learn more and to register, visit:
www.xrdconf.com.
XRDC is organized by UBM, which in June 2018 combined with Informa PLC to become a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.ubm.com and www.informa.com.
Ashley Womack xrdcpr@ubm.com