Optimism Around Immersive Technology Rising Post Pandemic, Perkins Coie’s XR Industry Insider Survey Finds | Business

SEATTLE – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Nov. July 2021–

The disruption caused by COVID-19 has bolstered the prospects for immersive technology, which could get even stronger if the world enters the pandemic, according to the fifth annual XR Industry Insider Survey (formerly the Augmented and Virtual Reality Survey) released today by Perkins Coie and leading companies The industry group of the XR Association is behind it.

The survey of 164 industry players involved in XR, which includes virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, shows that the pandemic may indeed have fueled the dynamism of the industry over the past half decade. Given the impact of COVID-19 – namely, social distancing policies that forced a global shift towards remote connectivity and greater convenience and familiarity with online and virtual experiences – more than eight in ten respondents say investing in immersive technology will be in 2021 Will increase compared to 2020.

“It is clear that the initial economic disruptions related to COVID-19 have not harmed the outlook for the XR industry – and the long-term effects of the pandemic appear to have raised optimism about immersive technology,” said Kirk Soderquist, Co-chair of the digital media and entertainment, games and sports industry group and partner in practice for technology transactions and privacy at Perkins Coie. “These survey results reflect what we hear from XR dealmakers – that deadlines are being cut from five to seven years to one to four years.”

“Our survey results reflect two broad categories of how COVID-19 has changed the landscape for immersive technologies,” said Elizabeth Hyman, CEO of XRA. “The first category relates to what is expected of consumers when and after the pandemic ends. The second concerns behaviors that were established during the pandemic that will remain. Taken together, the pandemic will leave a lasting legacy in the further development and growth of immersive technology. “

The survey, carried out in April 2021, was preceded and informed by group interviews with experts in this field. Overall, the results show that immersive technologies are expanding beyond games and entertainment, with sectors such as healthcare, education, retail, and human resource development and training viewed as potential growth areas.

Great optimism, but hurdles remain

83% of respondents expect investment in immersive technology to be higher in 2021 than it was in 2020, compared to 68% in our previous survey who said investments in 2020 would be higher than in 2019. Above In addition, 37% said investments in this year’s survey would be significantly higher, compared with 26% last year. It is noteworthy that optimism is higher for some industries; After resorting to remote working over the past year, 95% of respondents say their companies plan to increase spending on immersive technology for better collaboration and remote training.

Jason Schneiderman, co-head of Immersive Technology (AR / VR / XR) industry and emerging company venture capital attorney at Perkins Coie, said, “Although, as the survey shows, we have definitely seen an increase in investment due to the pandemic, We are already experiencing a bull market through 2020, particularly in education, training, and the automotive and retail sectors. “

The biggest barrier to mass adoption is access to software. Half of the respondents indicated that developing more accessible software (not specifically related to open source software or software for people with disabilities) to meet the needs of all users will be the biggest driver of enterprise adoption. When it comes to consumer acceptance, respondents said availability and access to open source software and communities was the most important factor (61%).

Other challenges are in line with the results of last year’s surveys. User experience was cited by 65% ​​of respondents as the biggest obstacle to greater adoption of immersive technologies, while content offerings (53%) and costs to consumers (27%) were other obstacles.

Voice of minority and women owned businesses

Some anecdotal evidence that the industry is becoming more diverse confirmed six out of ten respondents that they work for a company owned by minorities or women. Aside from a snapshot of the diverse industry landscape, the most notable finding was that these respondents, even more than the entire survey pool, believe that developers don’t understand what makes content attractive to consumers, especially minorities and women.

The results showed that minority-owned companies were more likely to agree, while respondents from women-owned companies were more likely to agree or more likely to agree with the lack of compelling content. In particular, when it comes to being interactive and immersive, respondents from minority-owned companies find that there is a lack of existing content. In addition, respondents from women-owned companies were more likely to feel that there was a lack of educational content, despite believing that the pandemic had affected the use of immersive technologies in education more than any other sector except marketing and advertising (the entire survey pool chose healthcare). .

The use of immersive technologies in healthcare, education and fashion is changing

Respondents in last year’s survey, conducted in January 2020, said healthcare was the sector most prepared for disruption from immersive technology. COVID-19 proved them right, and the sector was also the sector (outside of gaming and entertainment) that this year’s respondents believe will be hardest hit by the pandemic. Next came marketing and advertising, although in last year’s survey this was not an area that many respondents felt was prepared for interference from immersive technology.

The pandemic also appears to have heavily affected the prospects for immersive technology in two other sectors – education and fashion. Immersive technology was viewed by 97% as a major contributor to significant advancement in education through 2026, with 63% agreeing. Immersive experiences in retail, especially the fashion industry, are already on the rise due to the impact of COVID-19 – 89% of respondents agree that fashion and retail offer great opportunities for immersive technologies.

About Perkins Coie LLP

Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm known for providing quality, strategic solutions and exceptional customer service on matters critical to the success of our clients. With more than 1,200 attorneys in offices in the United States and Asia, we serve a broad spectrum of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders, with a full range of corporate, commercial, intellectual property, and regulatory legal advice, as well as public and nonprofit organizations. The Immersive Technology (AR / VR / XR) Vertical from Perkins Coie, which is part of the newly founded and redesigned industry group Digital Media & Entertainment, Gaming and Sports, advises pioneers of XR technology on building immersive worlds for games, education and healthcare , and beyond. Our lawyers have an “all-in” commitment to the industry and advise market leaders in immersive technologies, products, services and content. The lawyers in this group help meet the business and legal needs of our clients by focusing on and leveraging the firm’s collective experience in the transformative convergence of digital media and the digital entertainment, games and sports industries.

About XR Association

The XR Association promotes the dynamic global growth of the XR industry, which includes virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and future immersive technologies. XRA leads the way in the responsible development and adoption of XR by bringing together stakeholders, developing best practices and research, and advocating on behalf of our members and the entire XR industry.

The XR Association represents the broad ecosystem of the XR industry, including headset manufacturers, technology platforms, component and peripherals companies, Internet infrastructure companies, enterprise solution providers, and enterprise end users. The founders of XRA are Google, HTC Vive, Microsoft, Oculus from Facebook and Sony Interactive Entertainment. To learn more about XRA membership, visit xra.org/joinus.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210714005924/en/

Justin Cole, JCole@perkinscoie.com

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SOURCE: Perkins Coie LLP

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PUB: 7/14/2021 6:06 PM / DISC: 7/14/2021 6:06 PM

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