Pokémon Go is the future — okay, maybe not that exact game, since millions of people have already stopped playing — but the augmented reality technology that made it so exciting is going to be everywhere in five years, according to a new report. Virtual reality, however, still has a way to go.
In a new report from Forrester on “The Top Emerging Technologies To Watch” from 2017 through 2021, the research and advisory group singled out A.R., saying that it will harken the “blending of physical and digital.”
The report is especially focused on how A.R. will help businesses, explaining how “immersive digital overlays represent an opportunity to improve customer engagement.”
Google and Apple are investing heavily in both A.R. and VR, but there haven’t been any major successes yet despite a lot of chatter due to the current level of “hardware and display technology and the lack of content.”
Forrester predicts that things will change by 2021, and A.R. will be commonplace.
Fully immersive virtual Reality technology, however, won’t be quite as popular, at least within this time frame. The tech will get better, and goofy headsets will get smaller, but they’ll still be “unwieldy enough to limit widespread consumer uptake.”
In other words, it’s going to be a while before you can play Roy: A Life Well Lived.
