Eight Swedish XR industry professionals weigh in on what happened in 2018, and what 2019 might bring for virtual and augmented reality. The original blog post with the full survey/interview results is published here: https://www.immersivt.se/sa-har-ser-svenska-ar-vr-utvecklare-pa-2018/

1. SWEDISH XR DEVS:
2018 REVIEW / 2019 PREVIEW
NICLAS JOHANSSON, IMMERSIVE OPEN HOUSE, STOCKHOLM, 17/1-2019
2018:
- MATURING ADOPTION
- ON AUGMENTED REALITY...
- CONSUMERS / GAMING
VR/AR IN SWEDEN:
- POTENTIAL FOR IMPACT
- VR EDUCATION
- SWEDISH MODESTY? NOT HERE!
- BRACE FOR IMPACT...
2019:
- SAFE PREDICTIONS
- APPLICATIONS: GAMING / B2B
- DEEP TECH
- BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS
- MOONSHOTS?

3. 2018: MATURING
ADOPTION
VR IS STARTING TO SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS AT SCALE,
ESPECIALLY IN ENTERPRISE TRAINING
WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THE EFFECT OF THE LAST FEW YEARS'
LARGE INVESTMENTS IN THE XR SECTOR
STRONG POSITIVE TREND IN NUMBERS OF VR
USERS, BASED ON DATA FROM STEAM AND
OTHERS.
OCULUS GO BECOMING SUCH A SUCCESSFUL
AND WELL RECEIVED PRODUCT IS VERY POSITIVE
TOO
MORE AND MORE BUSINESSES ARE STARTING TO USE VR/AR IN
OPERATIONS SERIOUSLY - THEY'RE PAST PILOTS AND TESTING

4. 2018: ON AUGMENTED REALITY...
A FULL-ON EXPLOSION OF REAL USE CASES HAVE
STARTED TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE'S METHOD OF
USING TECH IN THEIR DAILY WORK.
NO MATTER THE TYPE OF PHYSICAL PRODUCT
YOUR WORK INVOLVES, YOU EXPECT TO BE ABLE
TO VISUALIZE IT IN 3D AND FIND USE CASES FOR
THAT VISUALIZATION WE'RE A BIT CAUTIOUS ABOUT AR. IT'S A SIGNIFICANTLY LESS
MATURE MARKET THAN VR.
THE WORLD HAS RE-FOCUSED FROM VR TO AR IN
ANTICIPATION OF VR BECOMING MAINSTREAM AND
FINDING ITS WAY INTO EVERY HOME

5. 2018: CONSUMERS / GAMING
THE CONSUMER AND GAMING MARKET HAS
CONTINUED ITS GROWTH IN A SLOWER PACE THAN
MOST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HOPING FOR
THE CREATOR TOOLS HAVE MATURED HUGELY.
THIS HAS LED TO MORE POLISHED RELEASES
OVERALL - FOR GAMES AS WELL AS OTHER
PRODUCTIONS

6. VR/AR IN SWEDEN:
POTENTIAL FOR IMPACT
MORE AND MORE COMPANIES ARE ADOPTING
IMMERSIVE TECH SOLUTIONS AND IT'S NO
LONGER SEEN AS JUST A GIMMICK.
SCHOOLS COULD GAIN SO MUCH FROM IMMERSIVE
TECH. IN VR THERE'S 100% FOCUS ON THE
EXPERIENCE. YOU COULD USE EYETRACKING TO
FOLLOW EACH INDIVIDUAL'S EXPERIENCE.
TEACHERS COULD ASK QUESTIONS AND EVERY
STUDENT COULD ANSWER INDIVIDUALLY IN THEIR
HEADSETS. IT WOULD BE A GREAT WASTE IF
SCHOOLS DON'T REALIZE THE GREAT BENEFITS TO
BE HAD FROM VR.
LOTS OF STUDIES HAVE EMERGED THAT INDICATE
THE BIG IMPACT THAT VR COULD HAVE IN AREAS
SUCH AS REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION.

7. VR/AR IN SWEDEN:
XR EDUCATION
TODAY THERE'S EVEN FULL-TIME VR SCHOOL
PROGRAMS FROM NACKADEMIN AND OTHER
EDUCATORS FOR THOSE WHO'RE LOOKING TO
ENTER THE INDUSTRY
THE DEMAND FOR XR SKILLS AND THE NUMBER OF
INDIE GAME STUDIOS ARE ON THE RISE. AS A
RESPONSE, SEVERAL SCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR
VR/AR HAVE STARTED AND ARE ALREADY
GENERATING FRESH TALENTS

8. VR/AR IN SWEDEN: MODESTY? NOT HERE!
HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION COMBINED WITH
SWEDISH INNOVATIVENESS AND TYPICAL
SCANDINAVIAN APPROACH TO TECH HAVE
POSITIONED SWEDEN AS A LEADING HIGH TECH
STARTUP NATION . HIGH LIKELIHOOD FOR AR/VR
TO BE "THE NEXT BIG THING".
TECH SKILL LEVEL IS VERY HIGH AND SWEDEN HAS
DESERVEDLY HIGH CONFIDENCE IN THE GAMING
INDUSTRY. WE'RE PERFORMING AT GLOBAL ELITE
LEVEL AND WE'RE GETTING EVEN STRONGER WITH
VR/AR.
WITH THE STRONG SWEDISH POSITION IN THE GAMES
INDUSTRY WE POSSESS THE TECHNICAL SKILLSET TO LEAD
THE VR/AR-REVOLUTION. IN OTHER WORDS - THERE'S A
GREAT OUTLOOK FOR THOSE WHO CAN SURVIVE THE
STRUGGLE THESE TOUGH YEARS.
IVAR: SWEDEN IS A HIGHLY ESTEEMED NATION
WHEN IT COMES TO VR AND AR PRODUCTION.
SWEDEN IS A VERY STRONG AND HIGH-PROFILE
NATION IN VR/AR. MANY BUSINESSES UNDERSTAND
THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF XR PROJECTS, AND WE
HAVE MANY SKILLED DEVELOPERS AS WELL AS
ENTHUSIASTS.

9. VR/AR IN SWEDEN:
BRACE FOR IMPACT...
SWEDEN IS ON THE CUTTING EDGE WITH VR AND
AR. BUT THE LIKELIHOOD OF AN APPROACHING
RECESSION MEANS THAT IT'LL PROBABLY GET
TOUGHER FOR STARTUPS IN GENERAL AND
ESPECIALLY SO FOR STARTUPS IN IMMATURE
MARKETS SUCH AS VR AND AR.

10. 2019: SAFE PREDICTIONS
HARRY POTTER: WIZARDS UNITE WILL BE THE
BIGGEST AR GAME SINCE POKEMON GO. BIG
BRANDS COMBINED WITH INNOVATIVE TECH IS A
WINNER!
MICROSOFT HOLOLENS 2 WILL TAKE A STRONG
POSITION WITH THEIR BIG AND OPEN ECOSYSTEM.
NEW AND EASY-TO-USE HARDWARE LIKE OCULUS
QUEST IS A BIG STEP FORWARD. CONSUMER
MARKET WILL PROBABLY NOT BLOW UP.
2019 WILL BE THE START OF DET BIG VR YEAR.
QUEST, MORE AND BETTER GAMES AND
EXPERIENCES TO ATTRACT THE MASS MARKET.
FINALLY A VR CONSOLE THAT CAN BE COMPARED
TO NORMAL GAMING CONSOLES ON THE MARKET!
THE THRESHOLD TO GET INTO VR IS STEADILY
GETTING LOWER. WITH HEADSETS LIKE OCULUS
QUEST AND VIVE COSMOS , NON-ENTHUSIAST
CONSUMERS CAN EASILY GET STARTED
THE OCULUS QUEST LAUNCH WILL BE A MAJOR MILESTONE

11. 2019: APPLICATIONS:
B2B/GAMING
THE VR GAMING SEGMENT IS SEEING HIGH
GROWTH. VR GAMING IS MATURING INTO ITS OWN
IDENTITY - CREATING GAMES THAT WOULD NEVER
WORK IN TRADITIONAL RECTANGLE DISPLAYS. THE
BOUNDARY BETWEEN "GAMES" AND "INTERACTIVE
STORYTELLING EXPERIENCES" WILL GET BLURRIER.
GLEECHI: GROWTH WILL CONTINUE TO BE FUELED
BY APPLICATIONS THAT PROVIDE A CRITICAL
BUSINESS VALUE.
WARPIN: BUSINESS CLIENTS ARE GETTING MORE
AND MORE INTERESTED IN VR AND AR. VR IS
PARTICULARLY SUITED FOR COMPANY TRAINING
APPLICATIONS.

12. 2019: DEEP TECH
EYETRACKING IN HEADSETS. INSIDE-OUT
TRACKING AND WIRELESS. WE'RE STARTING TO
SEE AI AND VR TOGETHER.
THERE'S A RUMORED HARDWARE SOLUTION FOR
SIMULATOR SICKNESS THAT I'M LOOKING
FORWARD TO TRYING OUT.
NEW DEVELOPER TOOLS SUCH AS UNITY WITH
PROJECT MARS, UPDATES TO UNREAL ENGINE AND
ADOBE - ALL OF WHICH WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR
US AND OTHERS TO DEVELOP IN BOTH AR AND VR.
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS WITH EYETRACKING FROM
SWEDISH TOBII AND HEADSETS WITH HUMAN-EYE
RESOLUTION FROM FINNISH VARJO.
THERE WILL BE A BIG FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT OF
DEVICES WITH BOTH VR AND AR CAPABILITIES
WEBVR, 24 YEARS AFTER VRML, WILL HAVE ITS BREAKTHROUGH

13. 2019: BACK IN THE SADDLE?
2019 WILL BE A VERY INTERESTING YEAR. MAYBE
WE'LL SEE A RETURN OF THE BIG INTEREST AND
HYPE LEVEL WE HAD BACK IN 2015/16.
I HOPE THAT VR TECH CAN FIND ITS WAY BACK TO
CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES, LIKE IT WAS A FEW
YEARS AGO.

14. 2019: MOONSHOT PREDICTIONS
IT WOULD BE EXTRA EXCITING IF APPLE WERE TO
RELEASE THEIR AR GLASSES DURING SPRING OR
FALL 2019.
AN EXPANSION OF THE CONSUMER SEGMENT.
TENDENCIES LIKE - SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO
START PAINTING, INSTEAD OF GOING TO THE
STORE TO BUY BRUSHES AND COLORS, WILL
CHOOSE TO PAINT THROUGH THEIR VR HEADSET.

15. Digitalisering!

16. Tack!
Niclas Johansson
immersivt.se
niclas@vrsverige.se
0704-239147