Two of the areas that we are often asked about by big businesses with skin in the game are Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Part of my job is to brief top tier organisations on what the developer audience is focussed upon so the companies can make the best decisions. I don’t speculate — I’m not brave enough for that. Instead, like every analyst at the company, I use our data to find trends and outliers in this emerging sector.

When you are involved and excited by an emerging technology, it is a common instinct to overestimate its impact and promise. Media enthusiasm builds in intensity and stokes interest, and when a new technology is promoted at the proof-of-concept stage, the publicity encourages developers to investigate it. Early adopters dive in, development proceeds, and success stories add to the anticipation of great things to come.

I worked in the smartphone industry before it came of age. Our mission was “a smartphone in every pocket” at a time when simple feature phones like the Motorola RAZR were the must-have communications device. Within a few years of our early projects, the competitor, Apple, launched the iPhone. The rest is history. The App Store opened its doors, the stars aligned, the technology dream was realised and smartphones went on to rule the world.