Rachael Power is an editor at TechForge Media, writing about marketing tech, connected cars and virtual reality. She has written for a number of online and print titles including the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, accountingWEB and BusinessZone. Rachael has a passion for digital marketing, journalism, gaming and fitness, and is on Twitter at: @rachpower10.











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Gartner’s named virtual and augmented technology as some of the smartphone capabilities that’ll have the biggest impact in coming years.

In its new report "Top 10 Smartphone Technologies and Capabilities in 2016 and 2017,” Gartner lists AR/VR as third on the list, below fast and wireless charging.

VR/AR has the potential to unlock new business models, address key smartphone user pain-points and create more compelling experiences, wrote Gartner research director Roberta Cozza in publishing the report.

The majority of next-gen smartphones are already gearing up for increased VR and AR usage, as ARM announced its new processors last week.

Rise of the VR business user

Business use is a major area where the tech could see increasing adoption, Cozza added, saying Gartner predicts that in less than two years, 26% of head-mounted devices (HMDs) will be created for business use. This is no small figure, as by 2020 52 million HMDs are predicted to be in use, and that’s just in the US.

In particular, personalised marketing (such as Dior’s recent efforts), internal communications and training and education will be areas where the tech could see an increase in business use.

Of course, the tech is just in its infancy – so better display technology improvements in sensing and tracking as well as real time graphics will increase both interest and adoption, Cozza said.

“Burgeoning developments in 360 degree and depth sensing imaging will provide enhancements to and the availability of environmental mapping capabilities.

“In addition 3D and 360-degree imaging devices can accelerate this trend,” she added.

We’re excited for the future of VR adoption – let us know your thoughts! Comment below.

Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their use-cases? Attend the co-located IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo, AI & Big Data Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo World Series with upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam and explore the future of enterprise technology.