Juniper Research is predicting that revenue from augmented reality will go from a predicted $2 million in 2010 to $732 million in 2014.

The annual number of mobile augmented reality content will rise from less than 1 million in 2009 to more than 400 million in 2014. Juniper is also forecasting that location-based search will be the most downloaded augmented reality applications.

?While [$732 million] is a comparatively low figure in terms of the global market for, say, mobile entertainment ? which we believe will exceed $50 billion by that time ? it will still represent remarkable growth from a market which has yet to generate any worthwhile revenues,? said Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper Research, Basingstoke, England.

Juniper Research provides analysis of the mobile and wireless sector.

Augmenting potential
Mr. Holden said as a concept, augmented reality has the potential to add value to various applications such as games, location-based search, entertainment and enterprise.

Augmented reality enterprise applications are unlikely to launch before 2012 due to technological constraints, Mr. Holden said. They will also come with a very high subscription price.

Location-based search applications will use augmented reality the most, but by 2014, Juniper predicts that 30 percent of all augmented reality application downloads will be in the gaming sector.

Marketing companies have been amongst the first to recognize how augmented reality applications can be used ? both directly and indirectly ? to generate revenues for leading brands, but usage has been sporadic.

Gimmick or wave of the future?
But, Mr. Holden said because augmented reality is still in an early stage of development and not many handsets are equipped with the proper technology, this has not necessarily been the case with other mobile innovations, or with mobile itself.

?We?re still at an incredibly early stage in the development of augmented reality, and so it?s hardly surprising that any uptake amongst marketing companies and advertising agencies has been sporadic,? Mr. Holden said. ?It could well be argued that given the low level of adoption of enabled devices and relatively low consumer awareness, that it is surprising that we?ve had any campaigns at all.

?I think that many marketers have recognized very quickly the potential that augmented reality offers, and I think that as penetration of augmented-reality-enabled handsets accelerates, then the number of campaigns with an augmented reality element will ramp up dramatically,? he said.

Another reason for the predicted increase was the emergence of augmented-reality-enabled mobile devices such as various handsets with Google?s Android operating system, Apple?s iPhone 3GS and the Nokia N97.

As more of these smarpthone models are rolled in 2010, the number of augmented reality applications will rise.

Mr. Holden said there does not appear to be any clear consensus about precisely how augmented reality can be monetized.

One reason is that many consumers and industry players still regard augmented reality as little more than a gimmick, rather in the same way that 3D was in cinema.

?It?s quite important for developers to realize that if you?re putting augmented reality into an app, it should enhance that app in some way, and whether an app has augmented reality or not, it has to be a good app, and appealing app, for it to find favor with end-users,? Mr. Holden said.