According to a study published in January 2021 by Statista Research Department, there will be an estimated 2.4 billion mobile augmented reality (AR) users worldwide by 2023, a rise of 2.2 billion from the 200 million seen in 2015. In 2021, there will be an estimated 1.96 billion mobile AR users worldwide. That same year, in the United states alone, the total number of AR users is forecast to reach 85 million.

In contrast to virtual reality (VR), which creates an artificial environment, AR simply makes use of the existing environment by overlaying new information on top of it. In AR, the information about the surrounding real world is made available to the user for information and/or interaction through the use of a device.

These numbers show that those technologies, even though accessible to much fewer people only a few years ago, are becoming more and more accessible. With the release of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, we are seeing the integration of augmented reality in the traditional toy sector. The NPD Group has released data for video game sales in the US for October across all platforms. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit stood out as the #1 best-selling Nintendo Switch game of the month.

These numbers seem to indicate that augmented reality is very appreciated in the eye of the general public and that is why at Augmented Robotics, over the last few years we have been committed to bringing more awareness and attention to this technology in order to show the full potential and impact it could have, especially in the traditional gaming industry.

Following discussions with various CEOs in the toy industry, we could conclude that the traditional game sector is going through a crisis. Nowadays, these toys have difficulties to compare to or compete with all the digital gaming content that is already existing and now taking the lead. Therefore, we are driven to invent solutions to merge these physical toys and the digital world through creating games that allow the players to interact with their environment through augmented reality.

We would also like to propose accessible free tools to encourage people to explore and learn about new technologies. These tools would allow people to learn about software skills like coding or 3D modelling. We aim to build a creator community to showcase the full potential of augmented reality in showing the broad spectrum in the ways of which we could use this technology.

© Augmented Robotics