The Real Reality of Augmented Reality

TheReal Reality of
Augmented Reality
AR promises to make all the world – including work – a stage
for immersive experiences. But balancing ROI and FOMO
is critical; our latest study shows how businesses are already
capitalizing on AR’s ability to deliver improved business
outcomes.

At long last, the AR market seems ready to
break out of the seemingly interminable stage
of pilot-only projects. One-third of our study
respondents have already scaled their
AR initiatives into full implementations and
captured substantial value.
August 2019

The Real Reality of Augmented Reality / 3
Executive Summary
With apologies to director Christopher Guest, today’s market for augmented reality (AR)
can feel a bit like Waiting for Guffman. In this 1996 mockumentary, aspiring performers
bide their time for a Broadway theater reviewer who – they think – will make them stars.
After witnessing years of AR pilots and false starts, plenty of observers think AR won’t
really come of age until Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg (or Magic Leap’s Rony Abovitz …
or Microsoft’s Satya Nadella …) unveils a head-mounted display (HMD) that’s as sleek,
elegant, interoperable, affordable and untethered (with a battery that lasts all day) as the
iPhone was in the mobile phone market of 2007. It’s no wonder that market analysts have
AR positioned at the nadir of their market timing cycles.
However, it’s getting more difficult to ignore the growing number of companies with AR
implementations generating real results. So which view is the right view? What’s the real
reality of augmented reality, and how will it affect the future of work?
To analyze the state of AR, Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work partnered with
Oxford Economics to ask 300 senior leaders about their views on the current and expected
dynamics of the AR market. We also conducted a focused, half-day roundtable session
in partnership with the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley to gather anecdotes and
lessons learned from industry practitioners and academics looking at the business impacts
and potential pitfalls of AR. (For more on how the study was conducted, see methodology,
page 32.)
One-third of our study respondents have scaled their AR initiatives into full
implementations and are already capturing substantial value and accelerating their
AR future plans. This suggests that, at long last, the AR market is ready to break out
of the seemingly interminable stage of pilot-only projects and that it’s time to prepare
for work, play, business processes and even entire business strategies to be altered by
AR in the 2020s.

4 / The Real Reality of Augmented Reality
Key findings of our study include:
❙❙ AR is happening fast, it’s happening now, and timing is everything. Half of respondents think AR will
be considered a mature technology that is accepted, established and in widespread use in 18 months to
three years, while the other half believe it will be in three to five years. But of those respondents already
realizing value from scaled AR implementations, the vast majority side with the near-horizon group; it’s
today’s priority, not tomorrow’s.
❙❙ AR is bringing massive change to a process near you. Of major significance to business operating
models in the near future, 82% of respondents expect substantial AR-driven redesign of business
processes. Rewiring business processes as “journeys” will become a key competency for organizations in
the near future.
❙❙ Brand reputation and equipment utilization are two of the biggest AR benefits so far.
Respondents with scaled AR implementations anticipate 8.2% average top- and bottom-line growth
from these initiatives by 2022. Even greater are the gains in soft benefits, such as improved brand
reputation, equipment utilization, speed and agility, and customer experience.
❙❙ AR concerns – while significant – aren’t showstoppers. Of our respondents, those who’ve already
scaled AR implementations expressed the highest degree of concern about a range of AR challenges,
especially technology readiness. However, these same businesses are finding ways to forge ahead
anyway; while emerging, the technology is not too immature to stand in the way.
❙❙ Engines built for gaming will be serious drivers of AR’s future. Some observers associate AR not with
serious business intent but with the seemingly goofy (read: Pokemon Go!). But for 65% of respondents,
the “fun and games” aspect of AR is serious business – they believe gaming engines will be the external
suppliers of choice for needed AR capabilities. The standardization and back-end computing power of
gaming engines (like Unity or Epic’s Unreal) are what’s needed to drive beautifully rendered, immersive
3-D content in AR.
Armed with fresh insight from AR pioneers on the state of the industry, we offer guidance to all businesses
on how to prepare for this vital technology in the future of work, including the challenges your organization
is likely to encounter and the skills it will need to nurture. Consider it as your field manual on how to connect
AR to your business strategy, and inform and guide your next steps on the journey.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS We asked study respondents to briefly describe the new
experiences they’d like to create with AR, for work, play
or customer engagement. The responses — which appear
throughout this paper — reveal what’s on the minds of
enterprise leaders on the cusp of this shift.

PRIME-TIME
AR
IS IN SIGHT

If you’ve been paying attention to the AR market for any length of time, and it feels like the world is divided
into two camps of AR “believers” and “non-believers,” then you’re probably right. In our study, business
leaders were evenly split as to when they foresaw AR becoming a mature technology that is accepted,
established and in widespread use (see Figure 1). Just about half (49%) think it will be within 18 months
to three years, and the exact same percentage think it will be in three to five years. Breaking the tie, the
remaining 1% think it will be in less than 18 months.
But while that might make it seem safe enough to “wait it out,” a closer look reveals the near-horizon
camp has a distinct edge. Of all 300 respondents, one-third (a total of 106) have already implemented
an AR initiative at scale, a group we call the “experts.” Of that group, 80% (a total of 85) have not only
implemented AR but also expect to be ahead, or far ahead, of their competitors in three years’ time.
We call this group the “pioneers.” For these companies, waiting around for AR’s version of “an iPhone
moment” isn’t enough. They’re already activated, have gathered momentum, and -- when it comes to
augmented reality -- their reality equates to real results.
AR: a technology whose future is fast approaching
Respondents were asked when they expect AR to be considered a mature technology that is accepted,
established and in widespread use.
3 to 5 years
26%
18 months to 3 years
PIONEERSTOTAL
3 to 5 years18 months to
3 years
49%
49%
74%
<18 months (1%)
Note: Total percentage in the left-hand chart doesn’t sum to 100% due to rounding.
Response base: 300 senior executives; 85 “Pioneers.”
Source: Cognizant Center for the Future of Work
Figure 1

BUSINESS
PROCESSES
BECOME
“AR-IZED” AS
IMMERSIVE
JOURNEYS

A huge impact of AR will be how it changes internal business processes. Conceptually, AR has the
technological power to meld people, places, time, space, things, changes of events, A/B choices and
next-best-actions into a fusion and flow we call a “journey” (a concept we explored in our 2017 report
“Augmenting the Reality of Everything”1
). The advent of high-speed, low-power 5G in the next couple of
years will only accelerate efforts to take AR experiences to the next level.
AR will pick up where earlier digital technologies – aka the “SMAC Stack” (social, mobile, analytics and
cloud) – left off.2
SMAC technologies have made great headway over the last decade in digitizing clunky,
manual, paper-based and rote-and-repetitive work processes, but there’s still plenty of hands-on work
that takes place today, particularly where legacy systems of record and systems of engagement stop. (And
these work tasks are typically executed with a still shockingly high amount of old-school paper forms as the
interface. Just ask your nearest doctor’s office about their stack of faxes from the hematology lab.3
)
Applied astutely, the increasingly sophisticated technologies of AR can reshape this type of rote work
by “melting” SMAC-based business processes and re-forging them as immersive AR journeys. Consider
fulfillment center workers doing pick-pack-ship or service technicians conducting field maintenance work.
These activities involve information exchanged while on the move (or “on the wait”).
Simply put, rewiring business process journeys will be your new key competency for applied AR. It promises
to remove last-mile, “look-away” processes that involve checking information and toggling between
multiple documents. For example, doctors are using a system that combines natural language processing,
AR software from Augmedix and Google Glass to auto-populate electronic medical records, reducing
paperwork burnout.4
Factory workers can use AR to display construction schematics, assembly or repair
instructions in front of their eyes rather than having to check and recheck a static document. Boeing says
its wiring technicians’ use of Upskill’s Skylight platform has cut production time by 25% and improved first-
pass accuracy 80%.5
AR will reshape work by 2025
It’s no wonder that of all the ways AR will impact the workplace, substantial redesign of business processes
is far and away the most notable, according to 82% of respondents in our study (see Figure 2 , next page).
This isn’t just a case of employees being able to work more quickly. By reforming business processes into
AR journeys, respondents also believe workers will be empowered to take a more analytical approach to
work (56%) and make better decisions (48%).
AR will pick up where earlier digital technologies –
aka the “SMAC Stack” (social, mobile, analytics and
cloud) – left off.

THE FUTURE OF WORK FOR
TRUCK DRIVERS
“AR has the power to turn ordinary truck drivers
into maintenance and logistics experts.”—
Managing Director, Life, Property & Casualty
Insurance, Germany
Our findings suggest that the use of AR for business processes will gain more attention over time. So far,
the “experts” in our study (those who’ve successfully scaled an AR implementation) have focused mainly on
business-to-consumer (43%) AR applications (e.g., virtual try-on and product education) and consumer-
to-consumer (38%) applications (e.g., the filters and overlays embedded in social media tools like Snapchat
and Instagram).
Processes become AR journeys
Respondents were asked to assess where AR would have the biggest impact.
36%
39%
44%
45%
46%
48%
49%
49%
56%
82%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Lead to significant increases in
productivity of affected workforces
Help us collaborate more with other workers
Mean less travel for work
Lead to jobs becoming more specialized
Lead to substantial redesign and repurposing of
workspaces
Help us make better decisions at work
Increase the automation of many business processes
when combined with AI
Lead to significant change in the required skills for jobs
Help work become more analytical with greater access to data
Lead to substantial redesign of business processes as “AR journeys/flows”
(Percent of respondents who agree or strongly agree that AR will impact each area.)
(Multiple responses permitted)
Response base: 300 senior executives
Figure 2

This reflects the reality of what’s already playing out among early adopters:
❙❙ Makeup maker Sephora enables customers to virtually try out 20,000 of its cosmetics either in-store or
via its app, using its AR tool Visual Artist. So far, the capability has garnered over 8.5 million visits and 200
million product try-ons.6
❙❙ With its AR-augmented mobile app barcode scanner, Walmart enables customers to more quickly
compare product prices and also see product reviews and ratings. The technology has reduced the time
it takes to scan multiple items by 50%, according to Walmart.7
❙❙ Houzz enables home buyers to redecorate homes with AR, letting them see 3-D spaces and visualize
furniture (e.g., size, colors, shape, weight, etc.) in their own rooms before they buy, heightening the
probability of a purchase by 11 times.8
❙❙ Enough with the (repeated) poking! Phlebotomists are finding veins using AccuVein, an AR device
that can “see” subcutaneously through the patient’s skin to find a vein, leading to a 45% reduction in
escalations.9

Looking at the three-year plans of the entire group of study repondents, there will be a continued
emphasis on B2C applications of AR; however, interest is growing in focusing AR on internal work and
business processes. While just 19% of “expert” respondents are currently targeting business processes
and operations for AR, one-quarter of the full respondent base plans to in the next three years. Coca-
Cola, for example, is using AR to help its retail partners visualize how beverage coolers would look in their
stores, Caterpillar is reducing the significant cost of downtime by using AR for servicing its on-site portable
generators,10
and Walmart is leveraging the technology for employee training.11
While just 19% of “expert” respondents are
currently targeting business processes and
operations for AR, one-quarter of the full
respondent base plans to in the next three years.

AR
QUANTITATIVE
BENEFITS
ARE GOOD;
QUALITATIVE
ONES ARE
GREAT

Over the next three years, brand reputation is anticipated
to be the top qualitative benefit, according to 62% of the full
respondent base.
The value of AR implementations is both quantitative and qualitative in nature. But while the quantitative
benefits of AR are good, the qualitative outcomes are great. At present, the “experts” in our study report
tepid quantitative results of just 1.4% revenue gains and 1% cost savings. But these same respondents
are much more optimistic about financial returns over the next three years, collectively anticipating 8.2%
average top- and bottom-line growth by 2022 (4.3% increase in revenue and 3.9% cost savings).
However, all our respondents believe the biggest outcomes will be more qualitative in nature. Over the
next three years, brand reputation is anticipated to be the top qualitative benefit, according to 62% of the
full respondent base (see Figure 3 , next page). Not only does this finding correspond with the prevailing
focus on B2C applications of AR, but it also underscores how companies see AR technologies as a way
to ensure their brand stays up to date with emerging consumer demographics – or simply tells a good
story. The AR-enabled “talking felons” label affixed to bottles of 19 Crimes wine,12
for example, helps foster
a brand connection with customers. Or, as master sommelier Fred Dame put it in the documentary film
Somm III, “[The all-important millennial demographic for wine] wants something more, something exciting
and different. And they want to pair it with a bedtime story.”13
In short, seeing is believing. When it comes to achieving something as inherently intangible as brand
reputation, AR can be a highly effective tool that provides real outcomes, right in front of your eyes.
Other qualitative outcomes of AR are more tangible, like better equipment utilization, which was named
by “expert” respondents as the top current AR benefit (it’s also cited by the full respondent base as a
top-two benefit over the next three years). This finding aligns with the increased interest in applying AR to
internal business functions. By retrofitting existing equipment in manufacturing plants with AR platforms,
businesses can increase speed, accuracy and throughput volumes. Witness the initiatives that Atheer
has enabled for step-by-step task guidance for manufacturers14
or the AR systems developed by the U.S.
Marine Corps for repairs to light armored vehicles.15
AR TECHNOLOGY MOLDS, SHAPES
AND REFORMS PROCESSES
“In our industry, it’s very helpful to have
augmented reality, as it’s having vast
applicability to things like digital catalogs,
virtual test drives and many more. So we are
trying our best to mold our business models to
accept these changes.”
— Chief Technology Officer, Retail, Sweden

AR delivers many qualitative benefits
Respondents were asked to name the top expected benefits of AR. (Percent of respondents)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Improve performance of value chain
(partners, suppliers, employees)
Improved management
decision-making
Improved collaboration
and teamwork
Improved accuracy,
fewer errors
Improved customer loyalty
Enhanced
staff skills
Improved brand reputation
Improved customer experience
Improved speed and agility
Improved equipment utilization
Implemented today Planned next three years
Response base: 106 “implemented today;” 300 “next three years.”
Figure 3

AR CHALLENGES:
SIGNIFICANT
BUT
SURMOUNTABLE

For many, “the waiting” for AR is primarily a matter of technology readiness, particularly when it comes to AR
software (see Figure 4). Respondents cited concerns ranging from software maturity (including software
development kits), to communications (interoperability and communication speeds between AR devices) to
the user interface (headsets, eyewear, smartphones, consoles, etc.).
Technology readiness is the leading concern
Which of the following represents the greatest challenge to AR adoption over the next three years?
Organizational
readiness
Technology
readiness
Industry &
consumer readiness
29%
25%
46%
Note: Technology readiness: AR technologies are not yet providing the performance, at the right price, to convince users
to invest in AR. Industry and consumer readiness: There are not enough convincing use cases, and consumers are not
convinced of the value of AR solutions. Organizational readiness: We don’t have access to the skills and expertise needed
for successful AR implementations.
Specific technology challenges
20%
24%
24%
27%
31%
31%
58%
23%
23%
23%
19%
39%
26%
55%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Accessibility of data
Processing of data
Vendor reputation
Presentation of data
Communications
Performance of the user interface
AR software maturity
Total
Experts
(Percent of respondents naming each as a “large” or “very large” obstacle)
Response base: senior executives who prioritized technology readiness as the top challenge = 137; Experts = 45
Figure 4

However, it’s important to note that while the “expert” grouping of respondents expressed even higher
concern about these technology aspects, they’re finding ways to forge ahead anyway; while emerging, the
technology is not too immature to stand in the way.
For example, the slow data speeds that can lead to latent image rendering and non-fluid AR experiences
could bring back jaded memories of the web’s “World Wide Wait” of yesteryear; however, the advent of
5G will help; 91% of our respondents felt it would help accelerate AR adoption over the next five years.
The twin challenges of consumer and industry readiness
A secondary challenge is related to the gnawing concern that AR is a “solution in search of a market,”
a “diminished reality” in which glitzy possibilities get lost in a speculative buzz
“Expert” respondents were particularly sensitive to the over-hyping of AR, with well over one-third citing
this concern vs. 26% of the full respondent base (see Figure 5). Of anyone, these early implementers are well
aware of the need to manage expectations of mainstream adoption in a world of over-promised solutions.
All respondents were also uncertain as to whether consumers would be amenable to the cost vs. value
equation. (Maybe it would be cool to look like a character from Toon Town, or have a velociraptor randomly
roar across their vision, but would they pay for – or spend time on – the privilege? Yet as millions of
teenagers already using the lolling dog-tongue overlay on Instagram suggest, the answer is “yes!”). On a
positive note, only 40% of respondents see having a convincing business case for AR investments as being
anything more than a “slight obstacle.”
It’s also a clear sign of the times that respondents key in on privacy as a key concern – both current
and future implementers alike. It’s essential that privacy and ethical use of the medium get the utmost
consideration, given the serious consequences at stake (see Quick Take, next page).
Top industry & consumer challenges
Total
34%
21% 21%
24%
38%
48%
26% 27%
29%
34%
40%
51%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Over-hyped
reputation
Social and
cultural norms
Number of
convincing
applications
Poor consumer
experience
Privacy concerns Consumer
concerns over
cost-vs-value
Experts
(Percent of respondents naming each as a “large” or “very large” obstacle)
Response base: senior executives who prioritized industry and consumer readiness as the top challenge = 86; Experts = 29
Figure 5

Eyeballs: the window
into the soul
It’s understandable that in today’s post-Cambridge Analytica world, when arcane
technological discussions around AR elicit phrases like “eyeball tracking,” people get
nervous (perhaps leading your Chief Trust Officer to do a verbal double take: “Excuse me…
did you just say ‘eyeball tracking’?” <Needle scratches off record….>)
Microsoft, for example, maintains that its latest versions of HoloLens use on-device eyeball
tracking as a way to compensate for the otherwise herky-jerky, and nausea-inducing,
latency of centralized servers rendering images to the device.16
Perhaps some of these fears are overblown; however, users’ comfort about engaging in
these experiences is essential, as is the responsibility of businesses to protect customers
from exploitation. As one Berkeley professor of bioethics and medical humanities stated
during our roundtable session, “Experiences in AR will be compelling, but they also need to
provide a level of comfort and a lessening of notions that it’s a ‘scary’ technology.”
In the end, AR “works” by having real humans (with thoughts, feelings, desires and
reactions) looking around inside the medium, as fast as their mind can go. As the saying
goes, the eyes are the windows into the soul. End users of the technology need to feel safe
when they’re using it, so privacy and ethical guardrails of use are both necessary, proper
and essential concerns that are everyone’s responsibility.
Quick Take

Be ready for the challenge of organizational change
Nobody wants new technologies landing inside their organization like a damp squib. Roughly 25% of
our respondents said structural challenges were the biggest AR concern for their organizations over the
next three years. The “experts” in our study tend to be more concerned about almost all organizational
challenges, particularly citing the track record of past projects, executive buy-in and the quality of technical
and project/change management skills (see Figure 6, below, and Quick Take, next page).
Given the importance of rewiring today’s business processes as AR journeys, organizational change
management will be essential. Employees will naturally be concerned about how AR will help them do their
jobs better, or how it might affect tasks or roles that constitute their jobs.
An AR CEO at our Berkeley roundtable counseled organizations to prepare for questions like: “At what
point does AR make me a robot? Am I allowed to turn AR off?” AR should be seen as adaptive to “you,” and
AR journey flows must adjust to circumstances in the work environment – including how tools like AR make
us feel or how to avoid the risk of their eroding essential skills like empathy and communication. (For more
on this topic, see our recent report “The Culture Cure for Digital.”17
).
Top organizational challenges
Total
Experts
34%
28%
22%
41%
38%
41%
50%
29%
29%
31%
32%
36%
39%
44%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Quality of project/change management skills
Convincing business cases for AR investment
Technical infrastructure
Executive buy-in
Complexity of AR implementation
Quality of in-house technical skills
Track record of previous AR-related investments
(Percent of respondents who named each as a “large” or “very large” obstacle)
Response base: senior executives who prioritized organizational readiness as the top challenge = 77; Experts = 32
Figure 6

Reimagining Digital
Content Services
We worked with a leading global K-12 publisher to accelerate its push toward digital
content creation and distribution, using a modern digital platform. The publisher’s existing
content operating model was distributed in silos globally, leading to long print cycles of
18 to 24 months.
With increased competition from digitally-savvy players, the company’s operations team
couldn’t keep pace with user demand for fresh content. Content reuse through multiple
delivery platforms — print, web and mobile — was seen as a way to satisfy customers while
reducing time to market.
Meanwhile, the company needed to manage a global vendor network of 170 content
producers, adding to the stress on operations and business competitiveness. With
content stored across 170 systems, it was difficult to derive optimal value from these assets
through content reuse, and the organization was unable to take advantage of a greater
collaborative opportunity to create content through enhanced workflows.
By applying our observations of industry trends and a deep understanding of the business,
we developed a solution premised on the following digital principles to produce and
manage content:
❙❙ Content is currency, and must be managed like treasury operations.
❙❙ Exemplary customer experience is a non-negotiable prerequisite.
>> Personalization is a must-have.
–– Digitally-instrumented content operations can, and must, impact revenues.
Quick Take
Investing in the skills needed
for AR success
Given the current talent shortage in many digital skill areas, many companies are – rightly –
concerned about their ability to acquire the needed skills to make AR a success.
Chief among the skills respondents believe they should emphasize is UX/UI (see
Figure 7, next page), which isn’t surprising given the highly interactive nature of AR as a
medium (where answering questions like “How’s it look?” and “What’s it do?” are critical).
But demand for UX/UI, especially people who are experienced in this field, is already high,
even without the influx of AR initiatives. The same is true for other top AR skills, such as
natural language processing and other forms of AI, both cited by over half of respondents.
Expert respondents in our study placed greater emphasis across the board on the need
for all skills as a determinant of success but particularly accentuated the importance of
partnering skills. When it comes to AR, those who know what “good” looks like are clear:
you can’t always do it alone, and specialist and generalist partners alike will usually be
needed (see Figure 9, page 26).
Chief among the skills respondents
believe they should emphasize is
UX/UI, which isn’t surprising given
the highly interactive nature of AR.

The good news is that many of the essential skills may already exist inside many
organizations, including people with backgrounds in computer-aided design (CAD) or 3-D
modeling. A wide diversity of backgrounds in skills like animation, marketing design and
even psychology will not only “make AR work” but will also be essential to helping new jobs
of the future, such as AR journey builders, reach their full potential.
Skills needed for the success of AR projects
Total
Experts
44%
58%
58%
56%
68%
71%
71%
70%
83%
89%
41%
49%
51%
51%
55%
63%
66%
67%
80%
85%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Content management skills
Physical infrastructure
Deep learning/AI skills
Voice interface/natural language processing
(NLP) skills
Partnering skills
Instruction/dynamic teaching in AR skills
Interactive skills
Visualization skills
3-D digital presentation/modeling/scanning skills
User experience, user interface (UX/UI)
Response base: 300 senior executives; 106 Experts
Figure 7

THE ROAD
AHEAD:
AR PLANS
BY 2025

The next decade will see a maturing AR industry spur a shift from today’s services economy to the
so-called “experience economy,” in which businesses use AR, virtual reality and AI analytics to turn
services into immersive experiences. Consumers will increasingly look for – and, soon enough, demand
– content catalyzed by AR to deliver creative, self-actualized and immersive experiences. So how can
businesses ensure they are accentuating “the experience” rather than leaving the impression that
AR is just a fiddly gimmick?
AR for us, by us … and by others
As Figure 8 reveals, one of the greatest expected impacts of AR is its ability to help businesses fortify their
social media presence. Clearly, the early AR moves of social media giants (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Snap,
etc.) present a platform to be built upon. But the crowdsourced, consumer-to-consumer “lolling tongue
dog face” of teenagers everywhere will likely give way to far richer, more meaningful content specifically
created “for us and by us,” by family or friends based on shared interests.
Enhanced AR features will drive adoption
Which of the following AR features do you expect to have the greatest impact on your industry by 2025?
Transcend traditional constraints (e.g., time/space/scale)
41%
Present clear contextual
information
42%
Increase focus
43%
Improve/enhance
communication
44%
Train, instruct and coach
environments
45%
Creative narratives and
experiences
49%
Productive, collaborative
work environments
54%
Inspire/encourage
crowdsourced content
56%
Enhanced 2-D and 3-D
visualizations
56%
Widen channel into social
media presence
59%
(Multiple responses permitted.)
Figure 8

For example, Crayola successfully used a platform from Vivoom to enable consumers to upload their own
holiday videos and overlay graphics, holiday music and the Crayola logo to share with family and friends.
The campaign resulted in an 8% click-through rate and 62% view-to-completion rate for videos shared
across users’ social channels.18
For some brands, having millions of customers driving content is undeniably
attractive; 56% of our respondent base felt it would be important over the next five years, as was the
creation of creative narratives and experiences (49%).
OFF THE SCREEN, INTO THE
(AUGMENTED) REAL WORLD
“Augmented reality can be used to bring films entirely
off the screen, extending the visual story into the real
world.”— CFO, Media & Entertainment, UK
Not just “a game thing” (or is it?)
So where will business turn for AR inspiration – and execution? It might come as a surprise to see both
gaming and the media and entertainment industry (e.g., Disney/Lucasfilms’ ILMxLab and Peter Jackson’s
Weta Workshop) at the top of the list (see Figure 9). Yet a big avenue for the AR-fueled experience
economy might best be described as being “the pursuit of happiness.” New, big-budget initiatives such
as “Vader Immortal” and “Project Porg” from Disney Lucasfilm’s ILMxLab are banking that the power of
Specialist AR suppliers will drive progress
How important will the following types of AR suppliers and partners be in moving AR forward in the next five years?
42%
44%
52% 52%
55% 56%
62% 64% 65%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Process platform/
workflow
specialists
IT services/
app
development
providers
3-D modeling
specialists
Digital ad/
marketing
agencies
Vertical
SMEs
Mobile or
social
generalists
AR technology/
software
specialists
Media &
entertainment
suppliers
Gaming
engines
(Percent of respondents naming each as important or very important)
Figure 9

presence in storytelling will give way to “story living.”19
Additionally, media heir James Murdoch just pumped
millions into Utah’s Void LLC, which operates spaces for immersive entertainment experiences (like Star
Wars: Secrets of the Empire) in a number of cities worldwide.20
(Imagine the opportunities to transform
dying retail malls into safe AR immersion centers – experience economy arise!)
For AR adoption to grow, the massive compute power of gaming engines that already undergird the wildly
successful online video games market will be a critical ingredient. Consider this observation from Unity’s
Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello: “We call it a game engine, but really it’s an animation/interactive/
lighting/physics/presence engine. And it happens to also be what Audi needs. And it happens to be what
the guys at the Large Hadron Collider also need.”21
Our respondents agree: 65% said that gaming engines (like Unity or Epic’s Unreal engine) will have the biggest
impact. As things like the AR cloud become important building blocks, gaming engines offer an unlikely source
of inspiration for building out AR journeys. These platforms promise to transpose powerful ingredients from
the online gaming world to AR, bringing standardization and huge amounts of back-end computing power
needed to drive beautifully rendered, immersive 3-D content. For example, visualization specialist Theia
Interactive used Unreal Engine to craft an AR demo for Harley Davidson where people can toggle between
an old classic rusty “barn find” and a completely overhauled specimen of the same motorcycle overlaid for the
user in real reality.22
Respondents were less impressed by the role of process platform/workflow specialists in the future of
AR. However, companies like Upskill, which delivers just-in-time, step-by-step assembly instructions in
manufacturing, and Augmedix, which provides automated note-taking in the medical profession, arguably
have some of the best case studies on the AR market today. While this may seemingly contradict the
undeniable importance of today’s business processes becoming tomorrow’s AR journeys, it may also
simply reflect the limited “point solution” nature of this category of provider.
MEASURE TWICE (THRICE,
MANY TIMES …), AND CUT ONCE
“When AR starts to combine with CT scans and
MRIs, it will allow doctors to do trial runs of
surgeries multiple times for the best possible
outcome.”— Chairman, Life Sciences, UK

The AR cloud, a ‘workbench’
for the future (of work)
Many aspects of work, life and play that involve us moving through time and space can
benefit from AR. The so-called “AR cloud” is the connective tissue that will digitally
encapsulate and enwrap the physical world we move through with layers of augmented,
digital information that’s presented to users as they need it. It will be a unifying infrastructure
that pulls together all AR platforms, wearables, locations and information with persistent
shareability.23
Said differently, if time and physical space are the canvas, the AR cloud is a digital
“paint palette” that can be used to craft AR journeys layered with information, data and
experiences in augmented layers. How? The AR cloud underpins the “genre” of the AR
journey, or the context in which the journey takes place, be it work, personal, medical or
something else. For example, are you walking the streets of New Orleans to learn about
specific points of historical interest, or to dig up the street to fix a water main? Can you and a
friend be walking together in AR, and see the same shared journey? Or two totally different
genres, even if you’re physically together in “real reality?”
The AR cloud is the difference maker. It also presents a workbench of potent tools for AR
jobs of the future, such as AR journey builders: artists, scriptwriters, improv actors and others
who upload their work onto AR cloud platforms, such as Google’s ARCore, Facebook’s Spark
AR Studio or Apple’s ARKit. From there, they can collaborate with engineering leads and
technical artists to craft content by leveraging myriad permutations and possibilities.
In this sense, the AR cloud represents an opportunity for innovation. There are conceptual
ideas for these creators to use content repositories that leverage “spatial Wikipedias” as an
essential tool in their future of work.24
Already, Facebook’s Spark AR Studio – which has been
used by more than a billion people, according to the company – enables AR journey builders
to break their AR flows into reusable piece-parts, or “block,” that they can use to better
organize their own projects, jumpstart other projects or share with other journey builders.25
Anyone who’s already used the “good old-fashioned cloud” as a mainstream component of
their computing infrastructure should similarly look to the AR cloud as an important pillar of
the future of (all) work involving augmented reality.
Quick Take

RECOMMENDATIONS:
MAKING
AUGMENTED REALITY
A REAL REALITY

Business leaders everywhere are navigating the hype and the promise of augmented reality technologies.
But as our study shows, with AR, it’s all about timing (and today, it’s more “near-term” than “far-term”).
Like other IT initiatives, there’s a certain amount of traditional blocking and tackling required to make AR
“real” in an enterprise setting, such as identifying sponsors, running pilot initiatives in advance of full-scale
roll-outs, etc. But based on our research, the following actions can help maximize real results:
❙❙ Recognize that AR is a genuine game-changer for your business. AR promises to be fruitful and
beneficial to almost every industry. While the consumer market promises to yield a bonanza, it’s
currently happening on a (very) small scale. Meanwhile, real opportunities to transpose today’s business
processes as AR journeys will soon be – literally and figuratively – right in front of your eyes.
So understand your target audience and their potential for scale, and adjust your goals accordingly.
Past technology breakthroughs such as smartphones offer an instructive strategic roadmap to get the
timing right.
❙❙ Pick your target spots and rewrite the narrative journey with AR. Now’s the time to deploy internal
and (trusted) outside resources onto AR experiments and proto-pilots throughout the organization.
This is especially important, because when – finally – ubiquitous consumer-grade AR wearables are
everywhere, expert developers and AR journey builders will be needed to supercharge valuable
experiences for consumers. So starting now is a strategic imperative.
❙❙ Help users help themselves – through iteration. Small changes through iteration to journey flows
matter – especially if you don’t have to have someone guiding users through the flow every time. If users
can navigate journeys by themselves, they’re far more likely to become advocates, which will help scale
adoption.
❙❙ Make time for scale: Take at least six months to prepare for scale; don’t release a new AR journey
at the last minute and expect it to take off like wildfire.26
Focus on things like whether the right HMD
technologies are being used, whether they’re fit for purpose, whether journey intros and outros need
refinement, etc.
❙❙ Context – more than ever – matters in AR. Magic moments in AR will happen when journeys are
built to meet people where they are. For example, an AR CEO at our roundtable session noted
that if you’re in a museum looking at art, there’s a strong possibility you’ll want to know more about it or
further interact with the artist’s inspiration. All work processes will follow a similar logic, and creating
AR journeys within the right context will make them far more impactful. From within that defined
context, knowing what works and what doesn’t, you can tap wider audiences, adjacent work streams or
customer demographics.

❙❙ Help employees avoid becoming “uncomfortably numb.” While it’s true that AR can function
as something of a Sherpa guide for your rote-and-repetitive work processes to be faster and more
accurate, one of the AR CEOs at our roundtable cautioned that it can also “numb” users and prevent
them from thinking critically about their work. Can you be too “prescriptive” in AR? Yes. That’s why deep
consideration given to the elements of flow within the AR journey as well as great organizational change
management are of huge importance.
❙❙ Adhering to privacy best practices is essential. The use of AR only intensifies the need for data
privacy, since wearables (as well as smartphones) are capable of tracking user behavior down to the
most minute detail. In fact, AR (like AI) might one day understand us better than we know ourselves. As
a professor at our roundtable noted, AR can be amazingly good for society (e.g., helping to educate us),
but there’s no reason for AR to track people’s individual data. It will be essential to align with established
norms, standards and (current or future) privacy laws.
Final Word
The characteristic elements associated with AR technologies – see-through, real-time, immersive and
continuous access to data – need to be harnessed to recast today’s business processes as tomorrow’s AR
journeys. Successful strategies and outcomes – better, faster, cheaper, more accurate, more experiential –
will be amplified, and value realized with immersive, spatial computing ushered in by AR.
Expert respondents in our study are clear-eyed about the technology, consumer and organizational
challenges but are forging ahead anyway to make augmented reality a real reality for their customers,
suppliers, employees and partners.
All businesses require urgent action and assessment as to the applicability of AR – fast. Like the advent of
the smartphone over a decade ago, this moment requires all of us to think differently, because with AR, the
journey is the process.

Methodology
We conducted a study in North America and Europe between April 3, 2019, and April 30,
2019, with 300 senior executives (C-level or direct reports) across industries familiar with their
organizations’ progress and plans relating to AR technologies. The survey was run in 10 countries:
Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK, Canada and the U.S.
We used telephone interviews for executives, fielded in English, French or German. The survey
was conducted by Oxford Economics, an independent research consultancy.
“Experts” & “Pioneer” Definitions
Among our respondent base of 300 executives, we segmented two groups: “Experts” and
“Pioneers.”
❙❙ Experts (n=106): Already implemented AR initiatives (at scale, beyond the pilot phase).
❙❙ Pioneers (n=85): A subgroup of experts who have both implemented AR and expect to be
ahead, or far ahead, of their competitors in three years’ time.
Overall sample demographics
Region Which of the following best describes
your industry sector?
2%
5%
21%
20%
40%
11%
More than 100,000 employees
(Totals don't add to 100% because of rounding)
50,001–100,000 employees
10,001–50,000 employees
5,001–10,000 employees
1,000–5,000 employees
Less than 1,000 employees
$750 million
to $1 billion
More than
$10 billion
17%
25%
$500 million
to $750 million
25%
$1 billion
to $10 billion
33%
Company revenueCompany size
U.S. 45%
UK 10%
Nordics 10%
Netherlands
10%
Germany
10%
France 10%
Canada
5%
10%
10%
8%
7%
5%
10%10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
Banking
Life, property and casualty insurance
Healthcare
Healthcare payers
Healthcare providers
Media and entertainment
Manufacturing and logistics
Retail
Life sciences
Tourism and hospitality
Transportation

Endnotes
1 Robert H. Brown, “Augmenting the Reality of Everything,” Cognizant, 2017, https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/
augmenting-the-reality-of-everything-codex3050.pdf.
2 “Don’t Get SMACked: How Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud Technologies Are Reshaping the Enterprise,” Cognizant,
November 2012, https://www.cognizant.com/worldwide_olt/dont-get-smacked.pdf.
3 Ian Morrison, “The Future of the Healthcare Marketplace: What’s Next?” Cognizant Healthcare Conference, May 23, 2019.
4 Eric Wickland, “With Google Glass, Sutter Health Sees mHealth Success in Workflows,” Xtelligent Healthcare Media, April
12, 2018, https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/with-google-glass-sutter-health-sees-mhealth-success-in-workflows.
5 Paul Davies, “Evolution of the Boeing AR Kit, and its Application to Airplane Manufacturing,” Augmented World Expo USA,
May 29, 2019.
6 Alison DeNisco Rayome, “How Sephora Is Leveraging AR and AI to Transform Retail and Help Customers Buy Cosmetics,”
Tech Republic, Feb. 15, 2018, https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-sephora-is-leveraging-ar-and-ai-to-transform-
retail-and-help-customers-buy-cosmetics/.
7 Deena M. Amato-McCoy, “Walmart’s Mobile Barcode Scanner to Go the Augmented Reality Route,” Drugstore News, Nov.
6, 2018, https://www.drugstorenews.com/retail-news/walmart-working-augmented-reality-based-scanner/.
8 Tim Merel, “The Reality of Spatial Computing: What’s Working in 2019 (And Where it Goes From Here),” Augmented World
Expo USA, May 29, 2019.
9 Accuvein website: https://www.accuvein.com/.
10 Greg Nichols, “Use Case: Augmented Reality Finds Early Adoption with Field Service Technicians,” ZDNet, July 12, 2018,
https://www.zdnet.com/article/use-case-augmented-reality-finds-early-adoption-with-field-service-techs/.
11 Jane Incao, “How VR Is Transforming the Way We Train Associates,” Walmart, Sept. 20, 2018, https://blog.walmart.com/
innovation/20180920/how-vr-is-transforming-the-way-we-train-associates.
12 19 Crimes website: https://www.19crimes.com/.
13 Kristy Wenz, “A Conversation with Master Sommelier Fred Dame,” Wine Traveler, https://www.winetraveler.com/wine-
industry/fred-dame-blind-tasting-master-sommelier-somm-madness.
14 Atheer website: https://atheerair.com/.
15 Kristina Grifantini, “Faster Maintenance with Augmented Reality,” MIT Technology Review, Oct. 26, 2009, https://www.
technologyreview.com/s/415977/faster-maintenance-with-augmented-reality/.
16 16 James Batchelor, “Microsoft Adds Eye-Tracking, Doubles the Field of View for HoloLens 2,” Games Industry, Feb. 25,
2019, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-02-25-microsoft-adds-eye-tracking-doubles-field-of-view-for-
hololens-2.
17 “The Culture Cure for Digital: How to Fix What’s Ailing Business,” Cognizant, July 2018, https://www.cognizant.com/
whitepapers/the-culture-cure-for-digital-how-to-fix-whats-ailing-business-codex3673.pdf.
18 Kayla Matthews, “How Crayola Drew Up a Winning UGC Strategy with AR,” Mobile Marketer, Feb. 27, 2018, https://www.
mobilemarketer.com/news/how-crayola-drew-up-a-winning-ugc-strategy-with-ar/517876/.
19 Vicki Dobbs Beck, “ILMxLab: From Storytelling to Storyliving,” Augmented World Expo USA, May 29, 2019.
20 Christopher Palmeri and Anousha Sakoui, “James Murdoch Makes Largest Deal Yet with Bet on Virtual Reality,” Bloomberg,
July 13, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-13/james-murdoch-makes-largest-deal-yet-with-
bet-on-virtual-reality

About the author
Robert H. Brown
Vice President, Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work
Robert Hoyle Brown is a Vice President in Cognizant’s Center for the Future
of Work. Since joining Cognizant in 2014, he has specialized in the topics of
robotics, automation and augmented reality and their impact on business
processes. He has worked extensively with the Cognizant Digital Operations
Practice as head of market strategy, and also with Cognizant’s Accelerator
leadership to drive the development of its intelligent automation strategy,
messaging and go-to-market outreach.
Prior to joining Cognizant, he was Managing Vice President of the Business and Applications Services team
at Gartner, and as a research analyst, he was a recognized subject matter expert in BPO. He also held roles at
Hewlett-Packard and G2 Research, a boutique outsourcing research firm in Silicon Valley. He holds a bachelor’s
degree from the University of California at Berkeley and, prior to his graduation, attended the London School of
Economics as a Hansard Scholar. Robert can be reached at Robert.H.Brown@cognizant.com | www.linkedin.com/
in/robthbrown/.
21 21 Lucas Matney, “With New Realities to Build, Unity Positioned to Become a Tech Giant,” Tech Crunch, https://techcrunch.
com/2017/05/25/with-new-realities-to-build-unity-positioned-to-become-tech-giant/.
22 22 Ken Pimentel, “Theia Interactive’s Harley Davidson AR Experience Showcases the Potential of Real-Time,” Unreal Engine,
May 3, 2018, https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/spotlights/theia-interactive-s-harley-davidson-ar-experience-
showcases-the-potential-of-real-time.
23 23 Amir Bozorgzadeh, “The AR Cloud Will Infuse Meaning into Every Object in the Real World,” Venture Beat, Dec. 18, 2018,
https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/18/the-ar-cloud-will-infuse-meaning-into-every-object-in-the-real-world/.
24 Ori Inbar, “Enter the Next Dimension with Spatial Computing,” Augmented World Expo USA, May 29, 2019.
25 Dean Takahashi, “Facebook Adds Windows Support to Spark AR Studio, Venture Beat, April 30, 2019, https://venturebeat.
com/2019/04/30/f8-facebook-adds-windows-support-to-spark-ar-studio/.
26 Joe Millward, “Walk Before you Run – Considerations for Scaling Immersive Technology Across an Organization,”
Augmented World Expo USA, May 29, 2019.

About the Center for the Future of Work
Cognizant’s Center for the Future of WorkTM
is chartered to examine how work is changing, and will change, in response to the emergence of new
technologies, new business practices and new workers. The Center provides original research and analysis of work trends and dynamics, and
collaborates with a wide range of business, technology and academic thinkers about what the future of work will look like as technology changes
so many aspects of our working lives. For more information, visit Cognizant.com/futureofwork, or contact Ben Pring, Cognizant VP and Managing
Director of the Center for the Future of Work, at Benjamin.Pring@cognizant.com.
About Cognizant
Cognizant (Nasdaq-100: CTSH) is one of the world’s leading professional services companies, transforming clients’ business, operating and technology
models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run more innovative and efficient business-
es. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant is ranked 193 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world.
Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com or follow us @Cognizant.
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