By 2024, the Global AR & VR in Healthcare Market size was valued at $3.7 billion. These numbers are expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.2% and reach $19.6 billion by 2033, as per Dimension Market Research.
The main reason behind these huge figures is the potential of Augmented and Virtual Reality. While AR blends digital data into the real world to assist with diagnoses and surgeries, VR immerses medical students for an advanced look into medical procedures.
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Insights In The Healthcare Sector
Global Augmented and Virtual Reality in the healthcare sector are anticipated to grow by $15.2 billion by 2033 from 2025, at a CAGR of 20.2%. This growth is mainly driven by the hardware segment of AR and VR, including devices like head-mounted displays, smart glasses, and 3D sensors.
As more people are adopting immersive devices, augmented reality has the largest revenue share as of 2024. That also explains why North America is expected to dominate the AR and VR in healthcare market with 51.1% revenue in 2024.
In the healthcare sector, surgical fields are expected to dominate most of the market share in 2024. It includes growth driven by technological advancements, streamlined medical procedures, and collaborations.
Trends In The Healthcare Sector
AR and VR can assist a lot in eldercare with therapeutic applications which may improve the overall well-being of senior citizens. Age-related challenges can be addressed with cognitive exercises and memory enhancement programs. Caregivers can take advantage of immersive experiences to create enjoyable activities.
In addition, conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease can be manageable with augmented and virtual reality. Creating immersive experiences for such patients can help stimulate memory, cognition, and sensory perception.
Competitive Edge: A Detailed Analysis
There is moderate level of competition for AR & VR in the healthcare sector with high investments, technological advancements, and new collaborations. Some of the prominent market players in the industry include GE Healthcare, CAE, Layer, Siemens Healthcare, EchoPixel, and Augmedix.
From the regional perspective, North America is predicted to take the lead with 51.1% of the total revenue, driven by the increasing adoption of augmented and virtual reality. The US National Institute of Health also actively funds VR healthcare research.
On the other hand, the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to experience rapid growth, fueled by growing public awareness and advancing healthcare infrastructure. Mainly, we’ll get to witness this growth in emerging economies like India and China, which is also a great opportunity for outsourcing services related to AR & VR.
Growth, Challenges, and Opportunities
There are many fueling factors to this rapid growth in the healthcare sector. For instance, telemedicine is being adopted with the help of AR & VR to provide remote healthcare services. In addition, medicine is becoming more easily accessible, with virtual doctor-patient interactions, remote monitoring, and therapy sessions.
However, there are some limitations to this growth, too. Development and maintenance of AR and VR is expensive, and thus, unaffordable for smaller healthcare institutions. The initial investment required for equipment and software licenses can also act as a restriction. Lastly, all of this is capped with patient consent, data privacy, virtual medical errors, and risk of misuse.
But at the same time, virtual reality can offer an in-depth view of patient physiology and anatomy — which is great for surgery. It also improves precision and accuracy with diagnosis and treatment.
The Bottom Line
The current AR and VR advancements can boost substantial market growth, which are also expected to meet the demand of advanced healthcare solutions. Virtual reality is being used for VRET, diagnostics, rehabilitation, and pain distraction. So, the technologies hold great potential for the future in the healthcare sector.