LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to their latest report, Technavio analysts expect the global augmented reality (AR) market for gaming to grow at a CAGR of over 174% during the period 2016-2020.
According to Sunil Kumar Singh, a lead research analyst at Technavio for human machine interface research, “The market is rising at such a drastically fast pace as the technology is relatively new and has endless potential. The unique user-experience created through AR technology is the prime factor for its adoption in the mobile gaming industry.”
Technavio’s lead hardware and semiconductor market research analysts have identified the following three factors that will drive the global AR market for gaming:
- Increased integration of AR into mobile devices
- Growing mobile gaming market
- Simultaneous localization and mapping technology
Increased integration of AR into mobile devices
Manufacturers increasingly integrate AR solutions into mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and phablets to enhance their value proposition and enrich user experience. This increased integration is expected to boost the growth of the market during the forecast period, especially with the growing penetration of smartphones and tablets. With the ever-increasing processor capabilities and the introduction of 3D cameras, smartphones are considered to be the ideal platforms for AR games.
Some popular AR games among users are CamGun, Ingress, SpecTrek, and Clandestine Anomaly. In 2015, gaming and entertainment company Pokémon announced that its mobile app Pokémon GO will be launched soon in the market. Pokémon GO is a mobile AR game that allows users to catch all the Pokémon characters within their very own cities. This mobile app was created in collaboration with game developer Niantic (famous for its game Ingress). As gamers around the world are looking for the next big thing in the gaming industry, games like Pokémon GO will definitely draw their interest into AR games, boosting demand in the market.
In May 2015, MYNZ, the first AR game for Apple smartwatch was launched. MYNZ is a multiplayer AR game, which is played using an iPhone or an Apple Watch. The watch can be used to check the status of the game using its ‘Glances’ feature. The launch of MYNZ indicates that developers are also focusing on developing AR games for wearable devices such as smartwatches.
Growing mobile gaming market
The mobile gaming market is expected to capture one-third of the entire global gaming industry by 2018. In line with this growth in the mobile gaming industry, more game titles will be launched in the market. This is a positive development for companies that are coming up with or developing AR gaming apps. Advancements (in both processor speed and graphic content) in mobile devices have enabled them to run most popular games.
As a result, hardcore gamers are expected to move from traditional PC-console gaming to mobile gaming during the forecast period. This is definitely a boon to the AR technology, and the AR gaming market thus has high growth potential in the short term.
AR technology is taking immersive gaming to a whole new level. For instance, there are AR games being developed with horror content, giving a unique thrilling experience to users. Novum Analytics developed a horror survival AR game titled ‘Night Terrors’ in 2015. This game turns the user’s house into a scary and terrifying hellscape, as the lights have to be turned off in order to play this game.
“As a result of such immersive gaming experience, the demand for AR content in mobile devices will increase,” says Sunil.
Simultaneous localization and mapping technology
Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a popular and important autonomous mapping and navigation technique in mobile robotics. Initially used as "eyes" for NASA robots, SLAM can create maps of unknown environments and position devices with extreme accuracy.
Stockholm, Sweden-based 13th Lab, released an AR game titled ‘Ball Invasion’ that uses SLAM technology. SLAM eliminates the need for any printed visual markers and enables users to accurately position their mobile device in a 3D space and overlay computer data. If a user is playing an AR game, the app is aware of its surroundings. For instance, in ‘Ball Invasion’ (a shooter AR game that involves shooting balls), a user can shoot bullets which can bounce off the walls present, thus enabling an advanced game play.
13th Lab was recently acquired by US-based Oculus. Technavio expects the US to be the top market for SLAM technology in the initial stages. SLAM is an ideal technology for AR as it gives a markerless experience compared to marker-based AR, in which images need to be printed out.
Browse Related Reports:
- Global Mobile Augmented Reality Market 2016-2020
- Global Augmented Reality Market 2015-2019
- Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) Market in Japan 2015-2019
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