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Mixed-reality apps will be downloaded 10 billion times by 2024, research says

Games like Pokemon Go and social media like Snapchat will drive the AR/VR boom in popularity.

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Driven by social media and gaming, mixed reality apps will reach 10b downloads by 2024, according to Juniper Research.

Niantic

Apps with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality will reach 10 billion installations by 2024, according to Juniper Research. This is up from around 3 billion installations of mixed-reality apps for 2019, the study published Monday said.  

Mixed reality overlays images and videos onto the real world by using the camera on a phone, tablet, glasses or headset. More apps are likely coming, as Apple is reportedly planning a VR/AR headset to release by 2022 and glasses by 2023.

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Social media AR/VR like Facebook's offering and gaming apps like Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will be the biggest push in mixed-reality downloads, the Consumer Mixed Reality: Emerging Opportunities, Vendor Strategies & Market Forecasts 2019-2024 research paper said. Gaming and social media are predicted to make up half of all app installations by 2024. It added in-app spending will make up 75% of any revenue made by consumer mixed reality apps.

The report pointed to and Pokemon Go creator Niantic and Snap as successful mixed reality app developers. Pokemon Go has been downloaded more than 1 billion times, according to Sensor Tower data, while Snapchat has 210 million daily active users

Both apps "leverage their significant user bases by ensuring that app content is consistently refreshed," Juniper Research said, which ensures they retain their existing users.

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