Augmented Reality has captured the attention of the top technology companies in the world. Companies such as Microsoft, Snap, Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon are working on advanced AR glasses, which will increase the demand for AR Smart glasses ecosystem. In the current scenario, smart AR glasses are huge in size, which makes people feel that these glasses might look weird. But the scenario is changing now. Human Capable Inc. is developing the next-gen Norm glasses that look like normal eyewear, but feature high-resolution camera, voice command, touch and head gesture controls, and a 4-day standby battery that is compatible with Android or iOS. Vuzix, a New York-based display provider, priced its products at US$ 1000, but the company hopes to bring down the price to US$ 500. On the other hand, North has reduced the price of its Focal smart glasses nearly by 50%. Such initiatives from companies might make AR smart glasses more affordable, which in turn, can help increase the demand for AR smart glasses. The Global AR Smart glasses ecosystem is expected to grow at a CAGR of 37% between 2018 and 2023.

Figure 1: AR Smart Glasses Ecosystem Snapshot

In the AR Smart glasses ecosystem, the applications and OS required for AR smart glasses are being developed and the leading tech companies have laid a strong foundation for this purpose. However, the major challenge is to sell AR smart glasses at affordable prices. Epson is going to launch the next version of its Moverio smart glasses, the Moverio BT-30C. The price of the glass is US$499. Moverio software utilizes apps from Android phones. The 5G roll-out also has a significant effect on these AR glasses. Enhanced connectivity will allow heavy multimedia files to function smoothly, thus creating an enhanced user experience.

Facebook has entered a partnership with Luxottica in the year 2019, to develop Augmented Reality glasses named “Orion”. It features all the basic features of a smartphone along with live streaming of information from the viewers’ point of view. The main objective of this partnership is to replace smartphones with smart AR glasses. Orion AR smart glasses are expected to enter the market by 2025.

Figure 2: AR Smart Glasses Ecosystem: Segmentation

AR smart glasses require high computation power, and this creates demand for the whole ecosystem. The SoC must be designed in such a way to process the viewer’s vision in real time. In July 2019, Nvidia showcased its latest research at AR wearable at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles. This features a Foveated AR that can track the viewer’s eye and provide enhanced visual experience. Tegra Graphics and Nvidia are a few of the leading graphics chipset providers.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 features a screen resolution of 90 frames per second with 3k display. The chipset features 5G connectivity and it is the world’s first 5G-based XR platform. It is the first XR platform to support 7 cameras simultaneously. The company has hinted that many OEMs are committed to sell devices featuring Snapdragon XR2. These developments will further speed up the growth of the AR smart glasses ecosystem.

Global AR Smart glasses Ecosystem

As of 2019, North America is dominating the AR Smart glasses ecosystem. It houses most of the leading technology companies. Europe is the second largest market for AR smart glasses, followed by APAC. In APAC, the demand is driven mainly by China and Japan. In the healthcare industry, AR smart glass developer Vuzix announced in the year 2019 that it has partnered with Vsee, a telemedicine company, to provide smart glass-based telemedicine solution that provides real-time videos. In the same year, DHL, one of the leading logistics players, has partially deploy “Google glass enterprise edition” to most of its warehouses. The company reported that the use of AR smart glasses had reduced the workload and increased efficiency by 15%. The development of new technologies such as IIoT and 5G will further boost the demand for AR smart glasses ecosystem in the forecasted time period.

Figure 3 – AR Smart Glasses Ecosystem: Market Statistics Glimpse

There are many trends that are having an impact on the market forecast. These, when evaluated from a company’s perspective, can drive growth. Our numerous consulting projects have generated sizeable synergies across all regions and all sizes of companies.

The major players operating in the Global AR Smart glasses Ecosystem are as follows:

Company Ecosystem Positioning Total Revenue (2018) Industry Region Nvidia Hardware Manufacturers $ 11.7 Billion Semiconductors Global Google LLC. Solution & Service Provider $136.2 Billion Technology Global Qualcomm Hardware Manufacturers $22.7 Billion Semiconductors Global Samsung Hardware Manufacturers $210.9 Billion Semiconductors Global Microsoft Corporation Solution & Service Provider $110.3 Billion Technology Global

Very few markets have interconnectivity with other markets. Our Interconnectivity module focuses on the key nodes of heterogeneous markets in detail. Healthcare, Camera, Silicon, and Automotive are some of our key researched markets.

Figure 4 – AR Smart Glasses Ecosystem: Major Interconnectivities

Glance on AR Smart Glasses Ecosystem Trends:

Trends Components Products Industry vertical Technology Impact on Market Augmented reality is used in warehouse pickup solutions that provide the right position of the items in a warehouse. Thus , it reduces the time required to complete the order and thereby increases the productivity of warehouse workers. Logistics Augmented Reality 0.23% Augmented reality applications are provided by companies to enable customers to visualize the product in the real environment. This may include automotive, home, and beauty brand products Retail 0.21% HMDs and Smart Glasses will dominate the market of AR-VR for the healthcare end-use industry Healthcare 1.56% Trend 4 XX XX Trend 5 XX XX

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