Extended Reality Market to Boom to $6.7B by 2026

Purchases of Extended Reality Learning Products – the integration of simulations, augmented reality (AR), assisted reality, virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and biophysical environments producing immersive training and education – are barreling along at a robust 18.1% annually, with revenues expected to more than double to $6.7 billion by 2026, according to a new report from Metaari, an analyst firm in the learning technologies market.

The U.S. is the top buying country for learning technologies, accounting for 32.1% of all Extended Reality Learning revenues globally in 2021.

The XR market is being driven by surging demand for products in the corporate, military and healthcare sectors. A new sector with significant growth is travel and tourism, with VR being used to promote locations and tours.

The corporate segment has the highest growth rate at 18.8%. Revenues will surge to $1.8 billion by 2026. Federal government agencies are the second-largest buyers and will begin to reach parity with corporate buyers in the next five years.

"The current XR Learning Market is a lucrative value chain and the revenue opportunities are now quite abundant,” Sam Adkins, principal analyst, Metaari, said. “Investors are jumping in, especially in technology start-ups, where I’m seeing the most innovation.”

For more on VR, AR and MR technologies – collectively known as XR (Extended Reality) –  check out  Emerging X-Realities.

Some of the catalysts contributing to the growing demand for XR learning products include FDA approvals for healthcare-related products that have validated the market, the rollout of fast 5G networks in the US, and high demand for augmented field force performance support and remote assistance in the industrial verticals.

The development of next generation XR headsets are also having a dramatic impact on the market. Recent launch of next-generation headsets from Varjo, Canon and Lenovo are targeting enterprise customers.

"Within the next five years, VR/AR training and simulations will have expanded from the highest end use cases to widespread use in the workplace, such as training police officers, firefighters and surgeons,” Timo Toikkanen, CEO, Varjo, recently said. “By 2025, pilots will largely train in immersive environments and the first commercial space mission crews will have also trained with the help of VR/XR before takeoff."

Metaari’s new 234 page XR report identifies more than 750 XR companies operating in the U.S. to help companies in this sector find domestic distributors and partners and investors to identify potential merger and acquisition targets.