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In the past few weeks, we’ve seen a drumbeat of news that could redefine how we interact with technology. Amazon is reportedly developing consumer and enterprise AR glasses. Meta, fresh off its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, plans to unveil new smart glasses with built-in displays and gesture control. And Mark Zuckerberg has gone further, setting forth a vision of “personal superintelligence” delivered through AI-powered glasses that could one day replace the smartphone as our daily digital companion.
If these efforts succeed, the next three to five years could see AR transitioning from niche curiosity to mainstream utility -- not just for consumers, but for how we conduct our work as commercial and insights professionals in biotech, pharma, and medtech.
Over the past decade and a half, our field has steadily migrated away from in-facility interviews and focus groups toward digital platforms like Forsta and Civicom. The benefits have been undeniable: speed, convenience, scalability, and cost efficiency. Yet I think we can all agree that something important has been lost in the process.
First, respondent engagement has suffered. When patients or HCPs join a video call, the sense of shared presence is limited. The dynamic exchange, the subtle body language, the collective energy that often sparked deeper insights in physical facilities -- these are all more difficult to replicate.
Second, the way insights are consumed has changed. In the in-facility era, commercial teams and agency partners would often gather behind the one-way mirror, observing in real time, debating interpretations, and aligning on implications. Today, many stakeholders skim highlight reels after the fact. The immediacy and impact of being “in the back room” have diminished, and with it, the perceived value of primary research itself.
This is where AR excites me. Imagine a world where a nurse practitioner sits down for a one-on-one interview with a moderator. Both are physically apart, but each is wearing AR glasses. The experience doesn’t feel like a flat, everyday Zoom call -- it feels like sharing the same space.
Colleagues on the commercial team can “sit in” on the interview via their own AR headsets, observing in real time, whispering digital notes to one another, and even toggling between live observation and real-time dashboards of other datasets. Consuming virtual M&Ms would be a nice touch, too!
In this model, AR becomes not just a medium but a catalyst for engagement. Respondents feel more immersed, more “seen.” Commercial teams feel like they are back behind the glass, plugged into the energy of live insights. And researchers regain the immediacy that often makes the difference between data and true discovery.
The potential goes further.
In each of these scenarios, AR doesn’t just digitize what we already do -- it has the potential to elevate it.
Of course, we need to temper excitement with pragmatism. Hardware adoption will take time. Costs must fall, designs must become sleek, and ecosystems of content must flourish before AR glasses are truly ubiquitous. For healthcare marketing research, regulatory and privacy considerations will loom large. And not every respondent, or every client, will embrace the technology overnight.
But if history is any guide, the transition may accelerate faster than we expect. Ten years ago, few of us imagined that videoconferencing would become the default for global collaboration, or that entire research projects with hundreds of patients could be conducted without a single in-facility session. Yet here we are.
As someone who grew up in an era of in-person, in-facility research with physicians and patients, I’m struck by the possibility that AR could help us return to those roots -- not nostalgically, but in a technology-enabled, enhanced way. A way that combines the depth of live engagement with the efficiency of digital platforms.
That’s my vision, at least. But I know I’m not alone in pondering what’s next. To my peers in commercial, analytics, and insights roles:
The next wave of technological disruption is coming. If we lean into it together, we might just rediscover, and reinvent, what makes marketing research both fun and truly impactful.
