Widespread spatial computing adoption will be in industry first

Just because you’re not seeing widespread consumer adoption yet doesn’t mean that spatial computing is languishing!

One of the great things at Augmented World Expo 2024 was the sheer variety of industry use cases on display.

Augmented reality (or XR or immersive tech or whatever you prefer to call it) is clearly following the “industry-first” trend we saw with Internet of Things and smart devices (I spoke about this on a recent episode of the Design of AI podcast, below). Industry customers can afford the high price tag of spatial computing devices and have resources to invest in customization.

At AWE 2024, there was strong industry representation from healthcare, manufacturing, and retail, as well as government, nonprofit, and educational organizations. They were investing in spatial computing for:

• 👷‍♂️ Training & education

• 🤕 Patient care

• 🛍️ Retail

• 👁️ Many different types of visualization

In my view, it’s a great time to be in spatial computing.

Use cases are slowly starting to become more defined. Devices are continuing to become more accessible, while diversifying.

And there is still awareness and interest, without the huge pressure to immediately deliver that we saw during the metaverse rush.

Are you starting to think about how spatial computing will be incorporated into the product or service you work on? If so, let’s talk.