1.ARIndustry Overview

1.1 AR Industry Definition and Characteristics

Augmented Reality (Augmented Reality, shortAR) is a technology based on computer real-time computing and multi-sensor fusion, which can integrate virtual information data (including text, images, videos and3Dmodel) superimposed on top of the real world.ARThe technology can realize the combination of virtual and real, and has the characteristics of interactivity, immersion and real-time.

AR technology and virtual reality (Virtual Reality, shortVR) and mixed reality (Mixed Reality, shortMR) and other technologies are different.VRTechnology is a technology that completely puts the user in a virtual environment, and the user cannot perceive the information of the real world;MRTechnology is a technology that integrates and interacts virtual objects with the real environment, and users can operate virtual objects in the real world. from the virtual degree,VR > MR > AR。

1.2 AR Industry Development History

From1997YearARDefinitions, to the present dayARApplication, product landing; OrThe industry has passed.20Years of rapid development period.2008years of Apple'siPhoneAfter the release, the smart phone industry has been an unprecedented development. The growth of the smartphone industry has led to lower prices, smaller sizes and improved performance for display devices and sensors.VR/ARThe popularity of the product has laid a solid technical foundation.2012Year4Co-founder of Google Inc.BrinWear Google glasses airborne conference, announced the official appearance of Google glasses. As2012One of the most concerned technology products of the year, Google Glass successfully opened a new roundVRBoom. Subsequently, other tech giants quickly followed suit and actively engaged inVRThe research and development of technology, and on this basis will beARand mixed realityMRtechnology has also been brought into the track of rapid development.

In recent years,ARthe rapid development of technology,ARThe use of products has been extended to many areas, such as video, games, engineering, military, education, medical, real estate and retail. Overall, the current globalARThe market is still dominated by industry users, with fewer individual users.;In the consumer market, as2022At the end of the year,NrealReached10Ten thousand unitsARGlasses production record, sales ranked first in the world.

2.ARTerminal Equipment Analysis

Overview of 2.1 AR terminal devices

AR terminal devices are devices that can runARapplication, and a device that overlays virtual information data on top of the real world. Currently on the market mainstreamARThe terminal device has two forms: one is a mobile device using a smart phone or a tablet computer as a carrier; the other is a wearable device using glasses or a helmet as a carrier.

Mobile devices use cameras to capture real scenes and display virtual information data on the screen. This device relies on the user holding or placing it on a desktop, etc., and interacting with it through a touch screen or buttons. Mobile equipment has the advantages of low cost, high penetration rate and easy development, but it also has the disadvantages of screen size limitation, single interaction mode and insufficient immersion.

The wearable device uses a transparent display screen or a projector to directly present virtual information data in a field of view of a user, and performs interaction by means of voice, gesture, eye tracking, or the like. This device can free the user's hands and provide a more natural, intuitive and immersive experience. Wearable devices have the advantages of diverse interaction modes, strong immersion, and a wide range of application scenarios, but they also have the disadvantages of high cost, high technical difficulty, and short battery life.

2.2 AR Terminal Equipment Technical Architecture

The functional modules of AR terminal equipment and smart phones are similar, and can be divided into optical display, sensor, camera, computing processing center, audio and network connection and other major modules. According to the different functions of the module, it can be disassembled into three functional units: calculation, optics and sensing.

Computing unit: responsible for running operating systems and applications, and rendering and processing images. The computing unit includes the main control chip (SoC), memory (RAM/ROM), batteries and other components.

Optical unit: responsible for projecting the image into the user's field of view and ensuring that the image is clearly visible. The optical unit includes a light source (LED/Laser), microdisplays (LCD/OLED/Micro LED), optical system (lens/Mirror/optical waveguide/free-form mirrors) and other components.

Sensing unit: responsible for capturing the real environment and user actions, and providing interaction. The sensor unit includes a camera (RGB/ToF), Gyroscope/accelerometer/Magnetometer (IMU), microphone/Speaker (Audio), eye tracking/gesture recognition/Facial recognition (Interaction) and other components.

Among them, the calculation unit and the optical unit are the decision.ARThe core part of the end device performance and experience.

2.2.1 AR master chip

AR master chip mainly refersSoCComputing chips that need to meet the needs of end devices in terms of performance, power consumption, connectivity,AIIt provides support for hardware devices such as operating system operation, simple local rendering, multi-sensor information fusion processing, etc. At this stage, Qualcomm'sXRThe chip platform solution is unique, and someARThe whole machine enterprise adopts consumer-grade chips (mobile phone,AIoTchip) as a stage alternative.

Champ Consulting believes that there will be two phased transition plans in the short to medium term,ARSpecial requirements such as spatial-level computation and high quality image processing for complex scenes still requireARDedicated chip as support. At the same time, to promoteARIn the field of fire, security, industry, and even military industry, the replacement of domestic chip scheme is imminent.

On the other hand, in5GUnder the support of cloud computing, cloud services and other technologies, clouding computing, storage and other functions to reduce local requirements can be one of the solutions to solve the chip shackles, but in the short and medium term, the relevant infrastructure construction is incomplete and difficult to effectively support.

2.2.2 AR Optical Display

AR optical display refers to a technology that projects an image into the user's field of view and ensures that the image is clearly visible.AROptical display includes three parts: light source, micro display and optical system. The optical system isARThe core and most difficult part of the terminal equipment is determined to some extent.ARThe possibility of mass production of end equipment and promotion to the consumer market.

Currently on the market mainstreamARThere are four options for optical systems:Birdbath Micro OLEDscheme, free-form mirror scheme, array optical waveguide scheme and diffraction optical waveguide scheme. Each of the four options has advantages and disadvantages, as shown in the table below:

Birdbath Micro OLED solutions and free-surface mirror solutions have taken the lead in landing and mass production, occupying a dominant position in the market. Array optical waveguide and diffraction optical waveguide technology, although the absolute parameters are higher and more future, but the production process is more difficult still need a long time iteration.

3.ARIndustry market size

3.1 GlobalARIndustry market size

Global 2020-2022ARrising consumer users, driven2020Year360Thousands up2021Year540thousands of people;2022Year reached97010,000, two-year compound growth rate of up64%。

From the global market,2021YearARTerminal equipment shipments grew more than blocks.2017Global YearARTerminal shipments are approximately45million, but becauseARThe technology has not yet broken through bottlenecks, such as low resolution and pixel density, insufficient refresh rate and frame number, long latency in networked applications, and inconsistent standards and high prices among different vendors.AREquipment commercialization is difficult to land,2018Global YearARTerminal Shipment2610,000 units, down sharply year-on-year42%. With countries around the world5GBase station construction and5GTechnology development, bandwidth and low latency characteristics can solveARInsufficient image rendering capabilities, poor terminal mobility and weak interactive experience due to insufficient bandwidth and extended time,2022Year, GlobalARTerminal shipments are approximately50Ten thousand units, year-on-year growth31%。

WithARProduct generational changes and the cost of important components have fallen,ARThe average terminal selling price will gradually decline.2021Global ConsumerARThe average terminal unit price will be reduced600USD/Taiwan.2021Global YearARThe end market size is approximately84Billion US dollars, year-on-year growth16.7%。

3.2 ChinaARIndustry market size

China is in2019It has surpassed the United States to become the world's largestVR/ARThe market. expected2023China at the end of the yearVR/ARThe market size will reach1000About 100 million yuan. among them,VRMarket size accounts for about80%, andARMarket size accounts for about20%。

From the perspective of application fields, China's current main application fields are education and training and industrial manufacturing. The field of education and training is mainly used.VR/ARTechnology provides instructional environments such as virtual classrooms and labs, and enables functions such as distance education and online courses. The main use of industrial manufacturingVR/ARTechnology provides design tools such as virtual simulation and digital twins, and enables remote collaboration and intelligent maintenance. In addition, in the medical field, cultural and entertainment field, retail e-commerce field also has a lotVR/ARApplication of the case.

China is currently mainly in education and training and industrial manufacturing as the main application areas

From the perspective of terminal equipment, China currently uses smart phones as the main carrier, occupying most of the market share. Smart phones have the advantages of low cost, high penetration rate and easy development, but they also have the disadvantages of screen size limitation, single interaction mode and lack of immersion. Although the wearable device has the advantages of various interaction modes, strong immersion, and a wide range of application scenarios, it also has the disadvantages of high cost, high technical difficulty, and short battery life. With the advancement of technology and the decline of cost, the market share of wearable devices is expected to gradually increase.

4.ARIndustry competition environment analysis

4.1 AR Industry Drivers

The development of the AR industry is driven by a number of factors, including the following:

Policy aspects: the government'sVR/ARThe industry has given great attention and support, and formulated a series of policy measures and planning goals. For example,“Thirteen Five”Virtual reality is mentioned for the first time in the plan,“fourteen five”China is listed as a key industry in the digital economy, from initially focusing only on technology research and development to encouraging multi-industry integration and innovation.

Investment and financing: domestic and foreign head enterprises to grasp the yuan universe equipment layer interactive entrance.-OrEnd devices, and continue to lay out the downstream application content ecology. For example, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Huawei and other enterprises are actively researching and developingARterminal equipment, and invested in or acquired a numberARContent providers.

Technical aspects:5GThe development of technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence isARTechnology provides strong support. For example,5GTechnology can solveARInsufficient image rendering capacity, poor terminal mobility and weak interactive experience due to insufficient bandwidth and extended time; cloud computing technology can solveARFunctional limitations and performance degradation due to insufficient computing power and storage space; artificial intelligence technology can solveARDue to the lack of environmental perception and interaction, the integration of virtual and real and the lack of immersion are not strong.

Demand: Consumers have a strong demand and curiosity for new ways of interacting and immersive experiences, especially among the younger generation. At the same time, industry users also have an urgent need to improve efficiency and reduce costs, especially during the epidemic. For example, the field of education and training can useARTechnology provides instructional environments such as virtual classrooms and laboratories, and enables functions such as distance education and online courses; the industrial manufacturing sector can leverageARTechnology provides design tools such as virtual simulation and digital twins, and enables remote collaboration and intelligent maintenance.

4.2 AR Industry Development Dilemma

The development of the AR industry is also facing some difficulties and challenges, including the following aspects:

Technical aspects:ARThe industrial chain is long, the overall technology is not yet mature, the promotion of a single link is difficult to pry the rise of the whole industry, the technical driving force inside and outside the industry is limited. For example,ARThe optical system still has the problems of small field of view, low transparency and low image quality;ARThe main control chip still has the problems of high power consumption, low performance and low localization;ARThe sensor still has problems such as low accuracy, high delay, and poor compatibility.

Content: End products are difficult to have consumer grade.ARApplication content support, no realARfunction, playARThe application of the value of the combination of virtual and real, interactive capabilities, the industry has not yet entered a positive cycle. For example, most of the current marketARApplications are based on the simple overlay effect of two-dimensional code or image recognition, and do not really use spatial information or user actions to interact; and some high-qualityARApplications need to be specially customized or developed, which is expensive and difficult to promote.

Ecological aspects: industry standards are not unified, the interests of all parties are inconsistent, and there is a lack of effective cooperation mechanism and platform support, so it is difficult to form a good ecological closed loop. For example, at present, various manufacturers have their own standards and specifications in terms of hardware interface, software platform, content format, etc., and have not formed a common standard or compatibility; and all kinds of developers, content providers, channel providers, etc. also lack effective incentive mechanism and platform support, so it is difficult to form a good cooperative relationship.

4.3 AR Industry Future Outlook

champ consulting believes that in the next few years,ARThe industry will present the following trends:

Terminal equipment: under the two-line growth logic, domestic manufacturers will take small steps to accelerate the iteration of the way to gradually complete the transition from special equipment to general-purpose equipment;/Co-existence of split complete machine;BEnd scenario requirements are function-oriented, productARValue-added attributes are strongerCEnd priority landing;CEnd-to-product performance tolerance is low, manufacturers to watch movies, entertainment scenes into the market to open up.

Application content:BEnd-end applications will continue to deepen the segmentation and expand to more vertical areas;CEnd-end applications will extend from game entertainment to broader areas such as social e-commerce;ARApplications bring new opportunities.

In terms of technological innovation: the optical system will develop in the direction of lighter, thinner, transparent, larger field of view, and higher imaging quality; the main control chip will develop in the direction of lower power consumption, higher performance, and higher degree of localization; the sensor will develop in the direction of higher precision, lower delay, and better compatibility;5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies will beARTechnology provides stronger support.

In terms of ecological construction, industry standards will be gradually unified, the interests of all parties will be gradually coordinated, cooperation mechanisms and platform support will be gradually improved, and ecological closed loops will be gradually formed. For example, national and industry associations will formulate and promote common standards and norms; all kinds of developers, content providers, channel providers, etc. will establish effective incentive mechanisms and platform support; all kinds of manufacturers, operators, service providers, etc. will establish good cooperative relations.

5. epilogue

Augmented Reality (AR) technology is a kind of technology that superimposes virtual information data on the real world, which has the characteristics of interactivity, immersion and real-time.ARIn the short term, technology can be used as an efficiency tool to fill gaps in the industry; in the long term, it has the potential to become the next generation of computing platforms. Champ Consulting's Global and ChinaARIndustry development status and trends are analyzed, focusing onARThe technical architecture, market size, and morphological development path of the terminal equipment, andARThe industry's drivers, development dilemmas and future prospects are discussed.

This paper argues that,ARThe development of the industry is driven by policy, investment and financing, technology and demand, but it also faces difficulties and challenges in technology, content and ecology. In the next few years,ARThe industry will show the trend of two-line growth of terminal equipment, diversified application content, continuous technological innovation and perfect ecological construction. champ advises,ARIndustry-related enterprises should seize the opportunity, break through difficult problems, strengthen cooperation and jointly promoteARhealthy development of the industry.