The increased adoption of interactive streamed power hungry augmented reality experiences that is device-agnostic can increase user participation.

As more users get to enjoy their first augmented reality experience there is a greater demand for sessions that are more computationally intensive. The burden spans from more intensive computer graphics to complex mechanics that derive from AI algorithms.

Streaming interactive experiences from servers via Webrtc or Microsoft Mesh to name a few (the latter now released on closed beta) shifts the computational burden of a scene to a server with great specs and widens the breadth and depth of hardware and software that can participate in these multiplayer experiences.

In a nutshell the local device interacts and receives the stream of a scene that is running on a remote server therefore letting the server do all the heavy work. This opens the opportunity for scalable and distributive device-and-interface-agnostic experiences from smartphones to AR headsets and browsers to custom made apps: one platform to rule them all !

For now locally wired servers at the location where the experience is taking place can mitigate the risk to a decrease in wifi signal. Advances in 5G penetration will continue to support the reliable and practical implementation of this technology. Streaming can help teams accelerate the release of AR experiences and the availability of these to a greater number of users. This technology may therefore be a catalyst to an increased number of experiences available to an increased number of users.