"As feature-rich smartphones like iPhone and Android phones have only been available two or three years ago, we are still two years away from an AR-based mobile app uptake," De Passorio said.

He estimated that AR will also be deployed for e-commerce and m-commerce in the future. "For instance, retailers will deploy AR tech to allow consumers to see how they look with different styles of eyeglasses, jewelry items, or hats online or via smartphones," said De Passorio. "There are already companies deploying these technologies in-store in Hong Kong--this can be redeployed to mobile platforms."

"Mobility's potential in the enterprise solution space arrived when the iPad came onto the scene, taking tablet-computing mainstream," said Sunny Kok, CEO of Hong Kong-based Green Tomato, winner of Red Herring Global 100 and Red Asia 100 awards, as well as Computerworld Hong Kong's Tech Company of the Year for 2011. "The early adoption in enterprise use has been for point-of-sale purposes: communication with consumers at the point of contact. This is happening at the retail level, and hospitals use [similar technology] in diagnostic sessions as well."