While brands in Canada, from McDonald’s to Flow to FIGR, have recently used AR in campaigns technical challenges and cost remain barriers, according to a recent study by Unity Technologies.

The San Francisco-headquartered company, which offers AR and VR services has 27 offices around the globe including one Canadian branch in Montreal, recently surveyed 1,000 people who work in the marketing and advertising industries. Among those respondents who have worked with an AR campaign, 39% cited cost as a major issues in executing a campaign successfully, with 39% citing technical challenges.

“This survey reveals one very important thing: there is a disconnect between the growing demand for AR solutions and the pace at which advertisers, marketers, and creatives are becoming comfortable with the technology,” said Julie Shumaker, VP of advertiser solutions for Unity Technologies, in a release accompanying the study.

On the consumer side, 38% of respondents said there was a lack of consumer knowledge on how to use AR, with 26% saying consumers were afraid of trying new things. In addition, 20% of respondents said finding a way for AR to be applicable to a product or campaign was a challenge.

Despite the concerns, 80% of surveyed creatives believe that AR is an integral part of their advertising and marketing work. And over half of all respondents say there has been an increase in client demand (61.8%) for incorporating AR into campaigns.

Given that client demand, more than half of all creatives surveyed (55.8%) said they were likely or very likely to consider an AR campaign in the next year. Meanwhile, 54.1% who have already deployed an AR campaign were satisfied with the user engagement it delivered.