The holographic collaboration platform, Spatial, is set to launch its native AR app for iOS and Android to give a more lifelike experience to all its users going about their daily grind from their homes.
The pandemic has been a huge catalyst for the growth of the platform with its usage being up by 130 times compared to 2019. Dubbed as a glamorous alternative to Zoom, the platform has hosted more than a million meetings so far and this is just the beginning. Their usage statistics are going up exponentially with hundreds of hours being spent on the platform each day.
The accessibility of AR/VR headsets still remains a big roadblock for user acquisition. Nevertheless, the recent advancements in the ARKit and ARCore on iOS and Android is a great opportunity for Spatial to make their platform more accessible for billions of AR-enabled smartphone users.
The principle behind augmented reality is simply the usage of the mobile device as a window to layer holograms on top of the physical environment through 3D graphics. The applications for the technology are endless from having floating advertisements over locations on a map to interacting with a virtual avatar of your family member appearing to be sitting across the room while being hundreds of miles away.
Anand Agarawala, Co-founder and CEO of Spatial, has full faith in the platform’s ability to transform the way people connect with friends and family and also how they collaborate in a professional environment. “This is a huge step for spatial computing and for us in solidifying our leadership as the leading AR/VR collaboration tool on the market today,” he said.
He added, “Previously only people with a headset could experience the true magic of Spatial but we wanted anyone to be able to take advantage of it. Now, you simply hold up your phone and for the first time ever can become an active part of any virtual meeting and see lifelike avatars of coworkers or friends right in your living room.”
According to Statista, the AR/VR market size is projected to balloon from $12 billion in 2020 to gross revenue of $73 billion in 2024. The two key driving factors towards this growth are going to be its utility for team collaboration and entertainment. Moreover, mobile phone compatibility is going to garner even more interest in this technology.
Capitalizing on the wave of the upsurge in demand for collaborative virtual workspaces, the AR/VR technology has the opportunity to capture this market way faster than one would have imagined before the pandemic. Spatial managed to raise an additional $14 million in funding this year to take their total tally up to $22.3 million.
They also debuted on the Oculus Quest store and even launched an auditorium environment to facilitate collaboration for over 40 people at once. Virtual reality seems like a blessing when everyone is being forced to stay indoors and spend endless hours in front of screens missing out on that human touch everywhere.
“Our mobile and web apps offer the perfect getaway experience for those that want to try out the benefits of connecting more deeply with remote friends, family or colleagues but without the upfront financial commitment of a headset,” stated Jinha Lee, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Spatial. “The Quest 2 is projected to sell up to 6 million devices in its first year but we can bring Spatial to billions of users on mobile. The phone is where AR will thrive first and we’re capitalizing on this trend today.”
Spatial believes in making its platform suitable for a broad set of users including enterprise users, college students, families, and even church groups. It aims to bring back that human experience by harnessing the power of the AR/VR technology.
Their application is available to download on both Android and iOS.
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