How large is the Virtual Reality Market Size ?

Virtual Reality technology represents an emerging innovative market that is at the crossroads of several different growth areas. This document is a market indicator for the following market areas; 3D Customer Interaction Management,  Interactive 3D Virtual Meeting , Simulation Based Learning 
and Immersive 3D solutions.

3D Customer Interaction Management has a larger potential number of end users than the traditional design oriented CAD market as there are significantly more people in sales & training, MRO and support vs. design. Still the 3D Customer Interaction Management market segment is in an emerging stage and the adoption rate will take some time. According to Jon Peddie Research the total CAD market is estimated to reach $8.2B by 2012. We estimated that the 3D Customer Interaction Management market will be 10% of the CAD market by 2012, approximately $800 M.

Interactive Virtual Meetings/Virtual Worlds is a subset to the traditional online meeting market. According to Wainhouse Researchers, the online Web presentation sessions and various video meetings logged their first $1 billion quarter in 2007. They predict that in North America alone, revenue from audio, video, and Web collaboration services will reach $4.4 billion by 2011. This technology is currently in high demand; Karen Keeter, marketing specialist at IBM research, believes that,  “at this point, no single platform is the magic bullet for all 3D virtual business demands”.

Details, including an executive summary and table of contents, are available at http://www.wainhouse.com/reports.

Simulation Based Learning As an extension of e-learning solutions and changing learning environments the market is rapidly expanding in education for more advanced, simulation based 3D learning experiences. The video game industry is fueling and setting the expectations for Simulation Based Learning with interactive experiences through new technologies like Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. (SBL whitepaper)

If we look at the market for both corporate and education, another term often used when referencing SBL is Serious Games. The Serious Games market in 2007 was estimated to be around $400 million per year – just in the US (mostly educational and military) The same demand applies to health care providers, which will  bring the overall figure for the serious games to a projection of $ 1.5 billion by 2012.

Immersive 3D solutions From portable tablet PCs and glass free stereo displays to curved-screen and immersive rooms consisting of multi-channel projection walls; these new technologies are allowing people to move away from purely physical communication to “augmented/mixed” reality communication and interaction. Enhanced visualization will become ubiquitous, as it will provide added contextual information to functions like communication, product development and R&D, and medical imaging. Augmented Reality Tele-Presence is one of these technologies – where real-time display of 3D information and images assists and enhances collaboration and interaction.

Mobile Immersion Market - In the longer perspective we see the Mobile Immersion market rising significantly. New Ultra mobile devices with virtual glass displays overlaying and augmenting the real world to provide real time guidance and explanation. Superimposed context relevant 3D data & real-time orientation input from sensors like RFID labels. This adoption of Ultra Mobile devices may take some time but is reasonable to expect that it will be a multimillion market within the next 5 years. http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/10/20/augmented-reality—what-is-it.aspx

Target use:

• Assisting difficult tasks ( “label” the parts of a system in order to facilitate the mechanic’s work)
• Installation & support
• Medical visualizations (e.g., a doctor could “see” the fetus inside the mother’s womb)
• Education/Tourism, location based information & cultural heritage( labels or any text related to the objects/places)
• Construction and infrastructure (interactive three-dimensional buildings/maps that could be collaboratively modified and analyzed)

Macro Trends – Growing market for Virtual Reality

The Simulation Based Learning Market

http://blog.futurelab.net/2008/0/reconciling_serious_games_mark.html , http://blog.futurelab.net/2008/04/reconciling_serious_games_mark.htm , http://www.futurelab.net/blogs/marketing-strategy-innovation/2008/04/reconci ling_serious_games_mark.html , http://www.futurelab.net/blogs/marketing-strategy-innovation/2007/12, http://www.futurelab.net/blogs/marketing-strategy-innovation/2007/12/9_bi_microsofts_conservative_e.html

Macro Trends – Growing market for Virtual Reality solutions

The Simulation Based Learning Market

New Models for Learning