It’s that time of the year when we start seeing the best and worst lists of 2016 rolling in (but mainly the worst because 2016 left all of us shook) and when we start looking forward to 2017 while crossing our fingers that it won’t be as bad as 2016.
Technology has captured our imaginations and immersed itself into our daily lives like no other. From smartphones that can do almost anything to cars that don’t even need us to push their pedals, advancements in technology always leave us wondering what the next big advancement will be.
Here are five of the biggest technology trends that will dominate 2017.
1. Augmented and Virtual Reality
In 2016 we saw the phenomenal success of VR and AR gadgets like Oculus Rift and apps like Pokemon Go which exploded with over 100 million downloads. Both showed us just how far AR and VR has come and left a lot of us daydreaming about how this piece of technology will change our lives in the future.
With such a positive reception to these two technologies and the countless other apps that were released this year, we will continue to see this trend expand and develop in the new year. Prepare yourself to see AR and VR versions of things that go beyond capturing cute animals and immersive gaming.
2. Big Data
Since the world has evolved to become more dependent on the Internet, big data has been a popular topic for the last couple of years. In 2017, expect to see more advancements in using all this mined data to improve our personal and work lives.
From revolutionising our understanding and treatment of diseases with gadgets like wearables or creating better-targeted marketing campaigns. Big data will continue to have a tremendous impact on our lives over the next twelve months.
3. Industrial Automation
What is industrial automation? According to Wikipedia, it is using computers, robots and information technologies to automate the manufacturing, quality control and material handling processes. If you want to connect your machine from dh+ to Ethernet industrial automation will let you achieve this.
In 2017, we will see more businesses move towards this technology in their production process to increase productivity, improve safety, quality of goods and reduce human error.
4. Increase in the I want it now culture
Technology has spoiled us. Ever since the rise of Uber, people are getting used to having the power to get whatever they want to be delivered straight to their doorstep with a few swipes on their smartphone.
From massages, to pet grooming, flowers, pizza and even doctors. There is almost literally an Uber for everything.
The popularity of on-demand apps will continue to explode in 2017. We will see this trend continue to develop and spread into more unlikely industries and niches like finding a place to pee no matter where you are in the world.
5. The Blurring of the Physical and Digital
In a video published by Erik Qualman, he stated that more people own smartphones than toothbrushes. Considering how reliant we are on our mobile phones to do pretty much everything, this isn’t surprising.
In 2017, we will start seeing more of a blur between the physical and digital worlds. While we already can order an item online and fetch in person, this next year will see the digital world having a physical presence in our homes like Amazon’s Dash Buttons, and physical stores going even more digitalized.
Of course, with the flux of constant change that marks the tech industry, making predictions on its future is an exercise in futility. However, it never hurts to look at the biggest trends and plan how we can capitalise on them in our businesses going forward into the New Year. Which technology trends do you think will dominate 2017?