As part of our inaugural XR All-Stars series, we asked 50 XR Leaders to pick the technology they think will have the most significant impact on the enterprise space this year.
Below is a snapshot of some of their answers. You can view their complete answers to these questions and more in XR All-Stars or click a leader’s name to view their full profile.
Let’s see what some key figures in XR have to say:
The Rise of AI within XR
Rob Petrosino, Chief Innovation Officer at PeakActivity, believes Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be the game-changer this year:
“Artificial Intelligence will change how we do most things internally from create content to code,” he said. “The adoption curve is so high with an extremely low barrier it’s hard to ignore.
“This includes AI systems that capture and understand head-mounted display data.”
Amy Peck, CEO of EndeavorXR, agrees with the importance of AI but takes a broader view of its impact.
“I suspect most will say A.I. – and I think that’s true,” she said.
“I’m fascinated by how all emerging technologies are evolving so rapidly.”
Peck goes on to envision a future where AI, combined with XR, unlocks human potential.
“I think the greatest impact will come as we learn to harness these technologies to benefit humanity… We are on the brink of unlocking boundless human potential,” she said.
The Power of Spatial Presence
While XR and AI promise to improve the way we work, Thomas Dexmier, AVP of Business Development & Enterprise Solutions at HTC VIVE, highlights the importance of human connection within XR.
He said immersive collaboration platforms can make virtual collaboration more effective than standard video conferencing.
“There’s always a feeling of distance, video calls make you feel almost insulated from connecting with people, because you can’t even make eye contact,” he said.
“I’ve genuinely been using spatial platforms like VIVERSE for Business, and that’s really helped to have a sense of presence.”
However, David Moreno, Virtualware’s Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, stressed that technology should not be prioritized over physical interactions.
He believes building trust and relationships in the enterprise software business still requires a foundation in the physical world.
“I would not say any technology; I think physical is going to be more important,” he said.
“To establish long-term relationships and partnerships in the enterprise software business, you need to know people, and you need to build trust. That real trust can only be built in person first.”
However, Immersive Wire Editor Tom Ffiske had far more modest expectations for what will drive his business forward this year.
“Probably my laptop, let’s be honest. Got to keep it simple!”
Apple Takes a Bite of the Market
Several XR All-Stars cited Vision Pro as the defining technology of the year, but not necessarily because of its capabilities.
Amir Bozorgzadeh, Co-Founder and CEO of Virtuleap, acknowledged the positive impact of a major player like Apple entering the XR space.
Apple released its Vision Pro headset earlier this year, and many expect the Cupertino-based giant’s entrance to further validate the XR world’s potential.
“No doubt Apple’s entry has created new tailwinds for the entire industry, and while this might not in my opinion create a new hype cycle wave, it certainly helps to stabilize our sector during an otherwise dark period in capital markets, particularly the US,” he said.
Kevin Joyce, CEO at Tiny Brains, agreed, claiming that Apple’s mere presence in the market makes a huge difference, regardless of how many Vision Pros it sells.
“[It’s] not because we have any clients working with it (at present!) but because of the changes it will bring to the industry,” Joyce said.
“It’s not about sales figures, it’s purely about Apple having thrown their weight behind the medium. We’re going to see huge sweeping changes across the board simply due to the arrival of significant brand power, unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Randy Nunez, Managing Principal at Nunez Consulting, said Apple has done wonders for the enterprise world’s knowledge of the underlying technology.
“While I’m not sure of its longer-term impact on the enterprise, it is contributing to the increasing awareness of the technology to the masses and has brought the term ‘spatial computing’ to the forefront,” he said.
Headset Developments
Several of our respondents also highlighted VR headsets and associated technology, such as hand and eye tracking, as the biggest opportunity for their companies.
They cited the potential as stretching across gaming, app development and more.
Sören Syrbe, COO at Wonderland, said that HTML5 development is driving a new era of gaming.
“[The biggest opportunity is] always the new VR headsets + the growing interest of big companies like Google and Meta in HTML5 “instant games” which reflects a slow shift in the market that turns services like Facebook into modern video game platforms,” he said.
“We felt this renaissance of web games strongly at GDC, especially at the booths of Poki, CrazyGames and Discord.
“For these web games, people are looking for a game engine that enables the development of complex games that run smoothly on all platforms, including iOS.”
Gabriele Fiorenza, VR Developer at Daedalus XR, said mixed reality will “revolutionise the XR industry” as the available headsets improve.
“With the emergence of purpose-built headsets and a growing ecosystem of MR applications, we stand on the brink of a transformative era,” he said.
“The convergence of physical and digital realities will unlock unprecedented opportunities for immersive experiences and redefine the way we interact with technology.”
It’s not just the headsets themselves that are garnering attention.
Features like hand and eye tracking are essential to giving users a simple and immersive experience.
Nicolas Mignan, CEO & Co-Founder of VirtualiSurg, said Apple’s innovation in this area pushes the industry forward.
“As immersive technology develops, so does its capacity to offer experiences which seamlessly intertwine the physical and virtual spaces,” he said.
“Powerful new developments in VR headsets, such as Apple Vision Pro’s Hand and Eye Tracking capabilities mean our immersive training experiences will become more precise and intuitive, allowing users’ to connect with the learning environment more effectively than ever before.”
Meanwhile, Lair Anderson, Researcher at LAPISCO, expects the recently announced Google-Magic Leap alliance to have a similar impact on mixed and virtual reality, albeit with the pair still waiting to announce what the partnership entails.
“The collaboration between Magic Leap and Google marks an exciting development in the extended reality headset market,” he said.
“Magic Leap’s innovative technology combined with Google’s extensive resources and expertise has the potential to reshape the landscape of immersive computing.”
View the full XR All-Stars series here.