VR, AR and MR may make a US$30 billion industry by 2030

XR, or extended reality, is typically thought of as made up of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). IDTechEx Research now estimates that the market for this tech and its applications could grow until it is worth over $30 billion by 2030.

This growth may be based on one of its most common use-cases at present, which is of course gaming. This may be driven by investment (particularly in AR), which has been seen by chipset makers such as Qualcomm, as well as OEMs such as Sony, OPPO and HTC. Furthermore, software-focused companies such as Facebook have also bought into this industry with their continuing interest in Oculus.

However, XR may become more and more prevalent in other areas, including education, remote assistance and training. In addition, IDTechEx also sees potential for the various immersive platforms in use-cases heretofore unthought of or undeveloped at present. For example, the innovative stand-alone MR platform Magic Leap gathered $500 million worth of investment in 2017.