Forecasts suggest that by the year 2020 the largest segment within the virtual and augmented reality industry will be video games. Video game segment revenues are expected to reach nearly seven billion U.S. dollars by 2020 and continue growing to around 11.5 billion by 2025. The healthcare and engineering segments are also expected to experience high levels of growth in the coming years, further exhibiting the wide range of possible uses for the technology.

Augmented reality

While augmented and virtual reality are often grouped together due to their obvious similarities, augmented reality tends to place more emphasis on enhancing existing environments rather than immersing the user in entirely new ones. Forecasts expect the AR market to skyrocket in the coming years, with projected revenues increasing from around six billion U.S. dollars in 2018 to nearly 200 billion dollars by 2025.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality technology lends itself particularly well to uses within video games and simulation. Major tech industry firms such as Sony, Facebook, and Microsoft have seen the potential of VR technology and quickly developed products of their own to compete in the budding market. Mostly through the success of its PlayStation VR product, Sony has established itself as the clear leader in the VR headset market.