Technologies and applications in the field of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are increasingly being used in industry worldwide: to optimize workflows, boast efficiency in quality assurance, in assembly areas, or to repair facilities. Consulting and IT services firm Capgemini has now conducted a survey of 700 managers in the automotive construction, production, and supply sectors who are involved in extended reality projects. 82% stated that they have had good experiences. The majority of those surveyed anticipate that the new technologies will be standard within the next three (46%) or five (38%) years.

German companies, however, appear to be more skeptical, and are lagging behind internationally. When it comes to the implementation of VR technologies, US (59%), Chinese (51%), and French (48%) companies come out top; this ranking order changes only when it comes to the integration of AR-based applications: in this case, China (51%) ranks ahead of France (43%) and the US (42%). The German respondents lag far behind in both cases: Just 38% (VR) and 23% (AR) are already involved in concrete extended reality projects. Consequently, the majority are failing to exploit a great deal of potential for enhancing their productivity and competitiveness. At least the German automotive industry is often at the cutting edge: Volkswagen, for instance, has been using VR technology since 2017 , to optimize production and logistics.