7. Conclusion and future

The effective use of augmented reality in many industrial sectors has now been demonstrated. The fundamental characteristics of the technology, and in particular its hands-on nature, make it an ideal tool for facilitating innovation by simply carrying out "virtual" trials in "real" conditions. As we have seen from a number of examples, all business sectors can benefit from this. What's more, over the last ten years, the conditions for setting up augmented reality experiments have been greatly simplified. Hardware and software manufacturers have made considerable efforts to make the technology as accessible as possible. The cost of hardware has come down sharply, and while it remains complicated today to find augmented reality glasses robust enough for industrial use, the situation will change in the next few years, probably driven by the consumer market. In the meantime, solutions on smartphones-tablets...