Augmented reality and virtual reality are opening up opportunities for ETF investors to capitalize on a digital world, and at the same time, generate real profits.
On the recent webcast (available On Demand for CE Credit), The Next Evolution of Computing: Investing in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Bryce Tillery, CEO of Eve Capital, explained that augmented reality takes our current reality and adds something to it while virtual reality is immersive or able to transpose the user. With virtual reality, you can swim with sharks. With augmented reality, you can watch a shark pop out of your business card.
The AR/VR “technology is potentially as revolutionary as the smart phone,” Tillery said.
Tillery also pointed out that AR/VR technology also include real world applications that can improve businesses. The technology can help enterprises work faster with lower error rates and reduce worker fatigue; permits remote expertise and collaborative design; and improve performance monitoring and reduced downtime.
“The technology solves real problems and provides real benefits to users,” Tillery said.
For example, Boeing cut wiring harness build time by 25% and reduced errors to 0 by employing a smart glass (AR) solution for its wiring harness technicians. Boeing refers to the improvement as a ”step function change”. One can imagine the hurdles of putting 130 miles of wire into every 747-8 freighter. In the past, they used giant books full of diagrams, and then moved to laptops.
“You’re not saving seconds or minutes, it’s an instant massive improvement from using the tech,” Tillery said.
With the advancement in technologies across a spectrum of sectors, including high-resolution displays, graphics processing units, gyroscopes and digital cameras, the augmented reality and virtual reality space is becoming more accessible to businesses and consumers.
“The convergence of these disparate technologies are now allowing consumers to affordably access AR/VR experiences that would have been infeasible even just a decade ago,” Tillery said.
Given the current growth rates, Tillery projected that the AR/VR market industry could see revenue hit $215 billion by 2021. AR and VR headset market to reach 13.7 million units by the end of 2018 and grow to 81.2 million by 2021.
AR/VR technology can impact a number of markets and experience many avenues of growth. For example, in the military industry, the technology can provide simulated flight and battlefield training; heads-up display (HUD) for pilots; and drone data for soldiers. In the healthcare industry, AR/VR helps surgery simulation and training; assist robotic surgery – surgeon in VR can control robots arms; find veins for IV insertion; provide augmented view of patient via other data such as previous imaging; and assist treatment of phobias. In the education industry, the innovative tech can provide virtual lectures, field trips and classrooms, along with producing visual display of abstract concepts.
To help investors hone in on the AR/VR investment opportunity, Mark Swaringen, Co-Founder of Tactile Analytics, pointed to the recently rebranded Tactile Analytics AR/VR Virtual Technologies Fund (CBOE: ARVR). ARVR allows investors to access the AR/VR value chain through exposure to categories like sensors, processors, displays, HMDs, peripherals, other devices, entertainment, enterprises and development tools.
Financial advisors who are interested in learning more about augmented and virtual reality can watch the webcast here on demand.