Enterprise AR applications will continue to outpace consumer apps, despite the high visibility of games such as Pokémon Go, with revenues from enterprise AR apps expected to reach $5.7bn (£4.4bn) by 2021, having risen ten fold from todays figures.

The figures come from a new study by Juniper Research, which predicts that enterprise interest in AR technologies will continue to grow, fuelled by improvements in field of vision and latency on head-mounted displays for use in various industries.

Future releases, such as Microsofts HoloLens, are set to drive AR content revenues, particularly in the enterprise sector as businesses opt for the hands-free convenience of head-mounted displays over smartphones and tablets.

The bespoke nature of content for enterprise AR will lead to higher app prices, which will hamper adoption slightly with only the earliest tech-adopters in the enterprise space implementing the technology over the next two years.

However, as hardware grows cheaper, more businesses will invest in AR apps that drive efficiency and augment working practices with additional information. By 2020, the focus on enterprise by manufacturers like Microsoft and Vuzix will have created a large revenue opportunity for content developers.

The ubiquity of the smartphone will also help AR grow, providing a more immediate audience and distribution channel, but developers will need to focus on continued innovation in order to keep users engaged, warned the study.

“The nostalgia of Pokémon has worn off for most users and there are reports about a drop in app usage,” said Sam Barker, author of the research. “This means that the majority of consumer applications will only have limited revenue opportunity and are likely to have a short shelf-life akin to the current wider app ecosystem.”