Immersive Media Technologies: The Acceleration of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Wake of COVID-19

The report argues that the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the adoption of AR and VR by several years, transforming industries that were previously reluctant to digitize. It highlights successful applications in medical training, remote education, and virtual events, while noting significant market growth projections for VR and AR. The document also addresses technological breakthroughs in rendering and hardware, alongside critical concerns regarding user privacy and safety.

• The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for immersive technologies, accelerating their adoption by several years and forcing previously reluctant institutions, such as museums, to digitize their experiences to survive.
• In medical education, mixed reality has proven highly effective; at Case Western Reserve University, 85% of first-year medical students found mixed reality anatomy classes to be equivalent to or better than in-person instruction.
• Immersive technologies have enabled new forms of medical collaboration and training, including the use of HoloLens for remote surgical assistance and the training of approximately 60 staff members on ventilators at the Israel Center for Medical Simulation (MSR).
• The sports and entertainment industries adopted volumetric video and VR to maintain fan engagement during lockdowns, allowing viewers to experience events from unprecedented angles and interactive environments.
• Market projections indicate significant growth for immersive technologies, with the global VR market expected to rise from $6.1 billion in 2020 to $20.9 billion by 2025, and the AR market from $15.3 billion in 2020 to $77.0 billion by 2025.
• Technological advancements are focusing on reducing 'VR sickness', improving hardware through micro-OLEDs for thinner lenses, and using neural rendering to create photorealistic avatars to overcome the 'uncanny valley effect'.
• The adoption of AR and VR introduces unique privacy and safety risks, as these systems can capture intimate behavioral data such as eye gaze and body movement, and could potentially be used to virtually harm others.

APA

World Economic Forum (2022). Immersive Media Technologies: The Acceleration of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Wake of COVID-19. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Immersive_Media_Technologies_2022.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Immersive Media Technologies: The Acceleration of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Wake of COVID-19. 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Immersive_Media_Technologies_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Immersive Media Technologies: The Acceleration of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Wake of COVID-19 |date=February 2022 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Immersive_Media_Technologies_2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2022immersive, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Immersive Media Technologies: The Acceleration of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Wake of COVID-19}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Immersive_Media_Technologies_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }