Augmented Reality/VR Innovation: Leading Companies in AR/VR Glasses for the Medical Device Industry

The medical device industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by an increased need for home care, preventive treatments, early diagnosis, reduced patient recovery times and improved results, as well as by a growing importance of technologies, such as machine learning, augmented reality, 5G and digitization. In the past three years alone, more than 450,000 patents have been filed and granted in the medical device industry, according to GlobalData’s Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality in Medical Devices: AR/VR Goggles report.

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses more than 550,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the medical device industry, there are more than 150 areas of innovation that will shape the future of the industry.

AR/VR Glasses is a key area of ​​innovation in augmented reality/virtual reality

AR/VR glasses are a head-worn device that creates a virtual or augmented reality environment by projecting a computer-generated image onto the user’s view of the real world. The helmet has an opening that allows the camera to see the environment.

GlobalData’s analysis also reveals which companies are at the forefront of each area of ​​innovation and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity in different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are more than 50 companies, spanning technology vendors, established medical device companies, and promising start-ups engaged in the development and application of AR/VR glasses.

AR/VR Glasses Key Players – A Disruptive Innovation in Medical Devices industry

“Application diversity” measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly divides companies into “niche” or “diversified” innovators.

“Geographical scope” refers to the number of different countries in which each relevant patent is registered and reflects the scope of intended geographical application, ranging from “global” to “local”.

Magic Leap is one of the main patent filers in the field of AR/VR glasses. Other major patent filers include Tobii, Microsoft and Alphabet.

In terms of application diversity, Becton Dickinson leads the pack, followed by Smileyscope and Huawei Investment & Holding. In terms of geographic reach, Cleveland Clinic ranks first, followed by Becton Dickinson and Pixium Vision in second and third place, respectively.

Research in the field of AR/VR glasses is advancing rapidly as academic and healthcare industry interest in the field increases. Other technological advances to improve field of view, resolution, eyebox size and ease of fabrication will expand their applications.

To better understand how augmented reality is disrupting the medical device industry, access GlobalData’s latest topical research report on augmented reality in medical devices.

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GlobalData, the leading industry intelligence provider, provided the underlying data, research and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s patent analysis tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key subject areas and link them to specific companies in the world’s largest industries.