The aerospace and defense industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by automation, operational efficiency, and growing importance of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital identity. As modernization requirements continue to drive investment within both the civil and military aerospace sectors, widespread demand for AR/VR navigation interfaces have incentivized significant innovation within the field of virtual and augmented reality.  In the last three years alone, there have been over 237,000 patents filed and granted in the aerospace and defense industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Virtual and augmented reality in defense: AR/VR navigation interfaces. Buy the report here.

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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 206,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the aerospace and defense industry, there are 110 innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

AR/VR navigation interfaces is a key innovation area in virtual and augmented reality

AR/VR navigation interfaces provide an augmented or virtual reality overlay to the real world to aid an user in navigation and interact in a digital or virtual environment. These interfaces often include gesture or controller-based interactions to access information within AR/VR environments. It also employs special audio or immersive displays to manipulate, navigate and access information within AR/VR environments.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 90+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established aerospace and defense companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of AR/VR navigation interfaces.

Key players in AR/VR navigation interfaces – a disruptive innovation in the aerospace and defense industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.   

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.  

Patent volumes related to AR/VR navigation interfaces

Company Total patents (2021 - 2023) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 6 Unlock Company Profile
GoerTek 4 Unlock Company Profile
AeroVironment 13 Unlock Company Profile
Motorola Solutions 11 Unlock Company Profile
Qualcomm 14 Unlock Company Profile
Israel Aerospace Industries 17 Unlock Company Profile
Lockheed Martin 3 Unlock Company Profile
Wing Aviation 18 Unlock Company Profile
United Parcel Service 5 Unlock Company Profile
Inventec 5 Unlock Company Profile
Parrot 29 Unlock Company Profile
Pictometry International 9 Unlock Company Profile
Schweiter Technologies 8 Unlock Company Profile
Zhejiang Geely 9 Unlock Company Profile
Northrop Grumman 6 Unlock Company Profile
Olympus 4 Unlock Company Profile
Platypus Technologies 5 Unlock Company Profile
Nokia 11 Unlock Company Profile
Panasonic 3 Unlock Company Profile
Raytheon Technologies 3 Unlock Company Profile
Teledyne Technologies 3 Unlock Company Profile
Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault 6 Unlock Company Profile
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne 7 Unlock Company Profile
CACI International 5 Unlock Company Profile
Sony Group 48 Unlock Company Profile
Tencent 9 Unlock Company Profile
LG 40 Unlock Company Profile
IBM 6 Unlock Company Profile
Honeywell International 3 Unlock Company Profile
Walmart 10 Unlock Company Profile
NEC 13 Unlock Company Profile
Intel 14 Unlock Company Profile
Seiko Epson 7 Unlock Company Profile
GoPro 12 Unlock Company Profile
Skydio 14 Unlock Company Profile
SZ DJI Technology 207 Unlock Company Profile
PRENAV 10 Unlock Company Profile
Samsung Group 48 Unlock Company Profile
ETAK Systems 7 Unlock Company Profile
Limitless Computing 4 Unlock Company Profile
Nileworks 5 Unlock Company Profile
OTOY 4 Unlock Company Profile
Autel Robotics USA 7 Unlock Company Profile
PowerVision Robot 5 Unlock Company Profile
X Development 5 Unlock Company Profile
RelmaTech 4 Unlock Company Profile
Xiaomi 8 Unlock Company Profile
Guangzhou Xaircraft Technology 29 Unlock Company Profile
Shenzhen Autel Intelligent Aviation Technology 4 Unlock Company Profile
Shenzhen Daotong Intelligent Aviation Technology 3 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Israel Aerospace Industries is one of the leading patent filers in AR/VR navigation interfaces. The company, through one of its subsidiary Elta Systems, filed patent related to dynamic link-budget monitoring and graphical display.  Some other key patent filers in this space include Skydio and AeroVironment.

In terms of application diversity, AeroVironment and Groupe Industriel Marcel are some of the leading innovators. By means of geographic reach, some of the leading patent filers include Skydio and Northrop Grumman.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the aerospace and defense industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Virtual and Augmented Reality in Aerospace and Defense.

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.