Companies are rapidly deploying customer-facing augmented reality projects to improve sales, operational efficiency, and training, according to a PTC report.

How to move AR projects from pilots to enterprise adoption Watch Now

The augmented reality (AR) revolution is coming: 86% of industrial enterprises expect their customer-focused AR projects to go live in the next 12 months, according to a recent report from PTC.

Enterprises undergoing digital transformation are turning to AR for its potential to drive economic disruption and impact, the report stated. For enterprises piloting and adopting customer-facing AR projects, 50% named differentiated product or services offerings and improvements in sales and marketing as key business goals these initiatives will address. Another 28% said higher revenues were the primary goal of these projects, while 17% named the creation of new business models or revenue streams, the report found.

For internal AR projects, top objectives included improved operation efficiency (44%), new training methods (39%), lower costs (33%), higher manufacturing quality (28%), and a shortened development cycle (28%), according to the report.

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The AR market is forecast to reach $60.55 billion by 2023--up from $11.14 billion this year, at a CAGR of 40%, according to a recent analysis from ReportsnReports. AR shows strong potential for growth with its business-oriented applications, as reported by our sister site ZDNet: As of 2016, 67% of companies were considering adoption of AR. Companies are also exploring AR for high-risk training purposes.

"Augmented reality is happening now. Organizations are starting to jump in with both feet, knowing that ROI can be realized quickly and the window to leverage AR to differentiate is limited, as more companies add AR to physical products," Mike Campbell, executive vice president of AR products at PTC, said in a press release. "In compiling this report, we observed that pilots start with internal proofs of concept and quickly become deployed across multiple areas, including customer-facing product and service initiatives. Enterprises and consumers alike are on the verge of truly experiencing the transformative power of augmented reality."

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

86% of industrial enterprises plan to launch customer-facing AR projects in the next 12 months. -- PTC, 2018

50% of industrial enterprises named differentiated product or services offerings and improvements in sales and marketing as key business goals for AR initiatives. -- PTC, 2018

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