Augmented and virtual reality offers significant promise to transform the way people engage with one another, both for internal collaboration as well as for customers and partners. In the consumer space, AR and VR devices such as Apple Vision Pro, Google Glass, Meta Quest, have gained some measure of market traction, primarily for gaming. But AR and VR’s use within the business community has lagged. This is starting to change.
The last few years have seen the introduction of several business-focused AR and VR offerings including:
More recently, at its 2024 WebexOne conference, Cisco launched the ability of its in-room meeting hardware to support spatial Webex meetings on the Apple Vision Pro. This enables Vision Pro users to join meetings in a virtual reality environment and engage with those who are in a traditional conference room.
Unfortunately, the AR/VR space has also seen some hiccups as the initial promise of improved engagement hasn’t translated into sustainable sales. For example, reports surfaced in October of 2024 that Apple was cutting back on Vision Pro production and delaying its next generation model. In the same month, trade press also reported that Microsoft ended production of its HoloLens 2. These announcements follow Google’s decision to terminate Google Glass production in early 2023.
The wearable AR/VR market has struggled to grow out of niche use cases, which are primarily gaming related. However, there is growing evidence of enterprise interest in these devices, and related AR/VR technologies as a means of improving hybrid engagement.
Metrigy’s latest Employee Engagement Optimization: 2025 global research study of 400 organizations shows that the percentage of companies actively using AR/VR hardware and software has now reached 17%, almost double the 8.9% who were using the technology in early 2023. In addition, another 10.5% plan to deploy in 2025 while nearly 28% are currently evaluating the technology for potential future deployment.
Among the companies in our participant pool who have the highest ROI for their collaboration investments (in terms of increased revenue, decreased operating costs, or measured gains in productivity), AR/VR adoption is at 26%, highlighting a direct correlation between high collaboration ROI and AR/VR adoption.
Those using AR and VR are focused on narrow use cases rather than widespread use of AR and VR for regular in-person or hybrid meetings. Specific examples include:
In some cases, companies reported having set up test labs to explore potential use cases.
The unfortunate reality of AR/VR for collaboration is that growing these use cases requires continued advancement in wearable and non-wearable technologies as well as a price point that makes them attractive to buyers. The recent struggles of the wearable device market are likely to serve as limiting factors as companies temper their investments due to the threat of device cancellation. Ideally the potential benefit of these use cases will allow for a continuation (and expansion) of the AR/VR device and software markets.
About Metrigy: Metrigy is an innovative research and advisory firm focusing on the rapidly changing areas of workplace collaboration, digital workplace, digital transformation, customer experience and employee experience—along with several related technologies. Metrigy delivers strategic guidance and informative content, backed by primary research metrics and analysis, for technology providers and enterprise organizations
