We have witnessed great leaps in technology in the last few years. With cryptocurrencies taking the world by storm to Apple launching wireless charging with iPhone X to 3D printed organ and Siri, Alexa, and what not. World is changing with each passing second and lines between artificial and natural are blurring by the day. Cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, among others are transforming the way we live and defining new efficient ways to simplify work. Here’s the compiled list of few technologies that are disrupting and are the real game changers for the future.

• Artificial intelligence (AI)

From Alexa, Siri to chatbots, artificial intelligence or AI has moved out of research labs and become a house-hold technology. The non-biological intelligence has been the dream of humans for a very long time. But, now artificial intelligence has penetrated almost every industry. Global artificial intelligence market was valued over USD 2288 million in 2018 and is poised to grow at CAGR of over 64% until 2022. 

The combination of natural language processing and machine learning, which are two branches of artificial intelligence can be used to interact with human users and enhance the capability of the devices so that they can learn and improve from the experiences without programming.

One of the major applications of such technology is chatbots, programs widely incorporated by companies to understand needs of customers and provide solutions based on their requests. E-commerce giants like amazon are leveraging the power of AI to deliver semantic results based on search history of the user. As the proliferation of devices based on AI increases, need for managing and supporting the functionality of these devices will increase, resulting in creation of more job opportunities in the next five to ten years.

According to World Economic Forum, Artificial Intelligence is anticipated to create 58 million jobs by 2022 and machine automation is expected to account for 52% share in 2025, up from 29% in 2018.

• Internet of Things (IoT)

Physical devices present around us are part of a large network called IoT, collecting and sharing data. These connected devices or things gather information in real time to streamline operations or improve functionality.

The existing network of connected devices in 2018 was over 23 Billion, which is already triple the current global population, and the number is anticipated to cross mark of 30 Billion by 2020.

Several industries are utilizing IoT so as to understand consumer needs and serve them in a better way. Some of the major applications of internet of things include:

Smart Homes:

After IoT, smart home is one of the most googled topics on the internet. Convenience and need to save energy and time are at the core of smart homes. Lighting control, access control, energy efficiency, entertainment controls, among others are few instances of tasks that can be done with smart home. Smart phones allows easy monitoring and control of wide range of appliances, attributing to the popularity of the smart homes.

According to TechSci Research report “Global Smart Homes Market By Application (Energy Management Systems, Security & Access Control Systems, etc.), By Technology (Wireless Communication Technology, etc.), By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 – 2021” the global smart homes market is projected to cross $ 60 billion by 2021 backed by increasing proliferation of machine-to-machine communication, technological advancements and increasing awareness pertaining to saving energy. Smart homes also use key cards or fingerprint identification in place of conventional locks, making it harder for someone to break-in. Increasing awareness of energy saving among customers, surging demand for real time home security coupled with growing technological advancements are anticipated to boost the global smart homes market during the forecast period.

Smart Wearables:

From reading text messages to tracking your heart beat and monitoring activities, fitness trackers or smart wearables do everything. These devices come with embedded sensors and software to gather information about the users. At a later stage, collected data is used to derive useful insights. On account of growing popularity of smart wearables, several technology giants such as Samsung and Google are investing in building such devices.

Autonomous Vehicle:

Concepts of connected car and autonomous vehicles also use IoT for updating their algorithms based on user data. Connectivity of multiple devices through internet provide information related to real-time traffic and navigation around any obstacle.

According to another TechSci Research report “Global Semi & Fully Autonomous Vehicle Market By Automation Level (Level 0, Level 1 & Others), By Component (Embedded Systems, Cameras & Others), By Vehicle Type, By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2016–2030” global semi & fully autonomous vehicle market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of over 21% to reach $ 64 billion by 2030. Growing focus of automotive OEMs on enhancing safety features and increasing government support for developing driverless vehicles are the major factors anticipated to aid the growth of global semi & fully autonomous vehicle market during the forecast period. Moreover, foray of technology giants such as Google and Intel, among others, in autonomous vehicle market is further encouraging adoption of autonomous vehicles, thereby positively influencing the global semi & fully autonomous vehicle market.

• 3D Printing

3D printing has been around for quite a long time. It was in late 20^th century when the patent for the technology expired and 3D printing was made accessible to the world. Earlier, the application of technology was limited to prototyping; however, with the advancements in the technology, 3D printers can now be used to print human cells or tissues.

Prototyping & Manufacturing: On account of flexibility and versatility offered by 3D printers in the printing process of complex designs, 3D printers are readily used for custom manufacturing and preparation of prototypes, which can later be used for mass production. Due to this property and less wastage of material backed by low overall cost, 3D printing has penetrated into various domains including medical, construction, consumer goods, jewelry, automotive parts, among others.

Medical end-use industry is anticipated to benefit most from the 3D printing as the technology can be used to produce custom-made prosthetics that fits its patients. Furthermore, the technology can now be used to manufacture simple human tissues like skin or cartilage. With the ongoing development, bioprinting is anticipated to turn out to be possible for human organs also.

• Wireless Power

The first iteration of wireless power came in the form of wireless charging in electric toothbrushes, that used inductive charging.  However, Nokia was the first company to announce Qi charging for Lumia 920 in 2012, and since then Google, Apple, among others have followed the footsteps.

Transmission of electricity through grid is inefficient as close to 50% of the cost goes to the grid and transmission cable as they are expensive to install. Wireless charging has already found its way through smartphones, smart watches and others.  In 2017, global wireless charging market was valued close to USD 2.5 Billion, since then technology manufacturers have been capitalizing on the idea. Now, Bosch offers cordless power drills for construction sites and IKEA has started offering integrated lighting and furniture for wireless homes. 

• Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

Augmented reality and virtual reality have been around for the past 30 years; however due to complexities of the AR and VR devices and high development cost, technologies have not found their way in commercial space.

Since the acquisition of VR headset company Oculus in 2014 by Facebook, virtual reality market has been growing at a colossal rate thanks to increasing implementation of VR in various sectors. Healthcare vertical is utilizing VR to train medical personnel for patient treatment, disease awareness and medical marketing. Major automakers including Honda, Chevrolet, Ford, Volkswagen are using technology to display their latest car models and concepts through virtual reality showrooms. For instance, Audi and Toyota have launched Audi VR experience and ZeroLight VR in order to offer pre-recorded virtual test rides and virtually launch their cars, respectively.     

However, launch of Pokémon Go in 2016, validated the consumer mass acceptance of the augmented reality. Also, it was the beginning for the implementation of augmented reality in social media platforms and gaming market. Nowadays, social media platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat, are offering various selfie filters for entertainment purposes. Companies such as Wayfair, Sephora, Ikea and Nike are already using augmenting reality to assist customer in selecting the right product. Furthermore, with the rising popularity of AR, several companies are investing in technology to capitalize on the idea. Nevertheless, these are just the footsteps to mixed reality, future of virtual reality and augmented reality, as the technology has both real world and virtual world interactions.

• Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology emerged as the new buzzword in 2017 when the price of Bitcoin shot up to nearly $ 20,000. The technology, which is based on cryptographic proof instead of trust i.e. blockchain, has already taken the financial industry by storm; however, it is just the tip of the iceberg. The true scope of the technology lies in its implementation in others industry verticals.

According to another TechSci Research report “Global Blockchain Market By Type (Private, Public, & Hybrid), By Application (Financial Vs. Non-Financial), By Enterprise (Large Vs. Small), By End User (BFSI, Corporate, Government, and Others), Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2012 – 2022” global blockchain market stood at around $ 215 million in 2016, and is forecast to grow at a robust CAGR of more than 43% to reach $ 4.2 billion by 2022, on account of widespread implementation across numerous areas such as Internet of Things (IoT), banking & financial institutions, healthcare, media & entertainment, energy, retail, etc. In addition, rapid increase in FinTech spending, predominantly on technologies used in the financial services sector, is expected further propel market growth in the foreseeable future.

Conclusion

With these disruptive technologies we can only predict what our future will look like. Each one of these technologies work in sync with other to improve customer experience. One thing of which we can be sure, however, is that integration of these technologies will help to achieve higher efficacy and efficiency coupled with smooth consumer experience of whatever products, services or processes would be on offer.