Greenlight Insights' annual Virtual Reality Strategy Conference on Oct. 16 and 17 brought together 450 of the top executives from the VR, AR, and MR arena to share their insights and connect with other industry leaders.

Enterprise VR and AR is Ready 

Standalone is making VR headsets more accessible and high-end VR headsets are enabling realistic environments that weren’t previously possible. Mobile AR is a huge ecosystem with pre-built mainstream adoption that companies can employ across a variety of  use cases including training, remote assistance, and sales, in both B2B and B2C. Enterprise xR is maturing rapidly in terms of viability and ROI, and many of its most valuable lessons are applicable to fostering scalability in other xR use cases and verticals.

"If you want to remain a leader, you should pursue these use cases that create an immediate ROI and you can grow as the xR industry will grow," Qualcomm Head of VR/AR Hugo Swart said.

Location-Based VR Entertainment is a Proven Distribution Path

The expansion of LBE VR operations, both domestically and internationally, has been a proven ecosystem for hardware manufacturers and content creators. This is not a cookie-cutter solution, as each region and goal of content is different. Partnerships will be important, from content licensing to hardware solutions, to content creation; the entire experience will need a variety of solutions to build an end-to-end solution.

"VR/AR creators should be considering how spaces affect the people in them," Two Bit Circus CCO Nancy Bennett said. "If you're conscious of the space, there are so many ways of designing a space."

Mobile AR Already Hit Mass Adoption and Marketers Should Take Advantage

Pokemon Go demonstrated that the use of camera lens could be a major driver for consumer involvement. Integrating the camera into consumption had a major impact on connecting the digital experience into the real world, which lead to AR growth in e-commerce. Currently, the most effective use of mobile AR is discovering and purchasing products. Amazon and Snap AR created an e-commerce service to see products in the home prior to actually purchasing the items. We are in the beginning stages of retail and mobile AR adoption; building at scale is key.

"Advertising in mobile games generates small billions and is largely untapped," Unity Global Head of VR/AR Tony Parisi said.

To order a summary of key session takeaways and analyst insights, order the Virtual Reality Strategy Conference Executive Summary Report.