How many of us are aware that we already own an augmented/virtual reality device? Smartphones ship wired for all kinds of AR/VR use cases, and advances in network computing are about to make smartphone extended-reality, known as XR, mainstream. First stop: Workplace training and productivity.

Super-fast 5G networking is the main enabler, according to Armando Ortiz (pictured), vice president and partner, mobile and extended reality leader, IBM iX, at IBM. The low latency and increased bandwidth will make smartphones, wearables and other devices more ER capable.

“It will really allow us to put more use cases on these devices,” Ortiz said. We’ll see it happen first with mobile phones. In fact, 3.4 billion phones will have an AR capability by next year, he added.

Ortiz spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the IBM Think event in San Francisco. They discussed AR and VR for mobile and its potential for consumers and enterprises. (* Disclosure below.)

XR democratizes companies’ top chops

The first wave of use cases coming down the chute are work-related. For example, VR for immersive learning can train someone to work through a dangerous situation, according to Ortiz. XR blended with artificial intelligence can make ordinary employees act like veterans on the job.

“You now have the ability to democratize expertise with AI,” he said. “You take all of the expertise of your organization, and that one technician who’s only been there for 10 days now has the power of your entire collective knowledge.”

XR can disseminate information from an expert in one part of the world to end users around the globe. Some users in inspection industries are already reporting colossal time-savings, according to  Ortiz. “There’s a company that published 96-percent savings on time,” he said. The company is using AR to guide users along each point of the inspection.

AI and AR apps for workplace productivity get quick gains for users. And this is already observable, according to Ortiz. “Enterprises are going to be able to more and more easily justify the spend to make these investments, because the [return on investment] is rapid,” he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IBM Think event. (* Disclosure: IBM Corp. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither IBM nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE