Top 10 technology trends for 2018
2017 was a great year for technology and whether you classify yourself as a diehard tech fan or an average user, the technological advancements made in 2017 will, directly and indirectly, affect you in the near future. Be it Google’s real-time translating headphones ‘Pixel Buds’, the rise of Bitcoin and subsequent cryptocurrencies, or the whole world jumping in Augmented Reality with ‘Pokémon GO’, 2017 brought a lot of future in the present. With Artificial Intelligence, Smart automobiles and 3D printing knocking on the door of 2018, we take a look at 10 potential Technical Trends in 2018 that will change the world, one way or the other.
# Crypto Coins to rule the world
2017 saw the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which shook the world towards the end of the year. A single Bitcoin, which held a value of 1,000 USD witnessed a 2,000% increase in its value towards the end of 2017. Millions of USD are exchanged every day on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum and Cardano, and 2018 will witness no different. With the world recognizing the density of cryptocurrencies, 2018 can see financial laws across major countries generalizing these as regular currencies, making them a standard mode of payment across major avenues.
# The Reality we will know
On 6 July 2016, the reality we knew became obsolete as Niantic sent the whole world looking for Pokémon in the ‘real world’ using Augmented Reality. While the application faded pretty soon, Pokémon proved to be the catalyst that Augmented Reality required fit in the world which already had Virtual Reality. While VR constitutes of an entirely digital world, AR has the ‘Real World’ factor in it, acting as the foundation, on top of which the Virtual World is built. ‘Mixed Reality’ or MR fuses Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) together to provide the users with the best of both worlds. HoloLens from Microsoft and Magic Leap One Goggles from Magic Leap are some of the many MR advancements you can see in 2018.
# Artificial is the new Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence will rule the world in 2018, not in a ‘Transcendence’ way but in an ‘assisting the humans’ way. Artificial Intelligence saw a steep rise in both funding and awareness in 2017 and is going to get bigger drastically in 2018. It is getting out of the Research and Development phase and is being incorporated into some major applications, like for playing games and for chatbots. Additionally, it is expected to be incorporated more in the cyber security space to reduce cyber-attacks.
# Driving with Assistance
A fully autonomous automobile sector is still years away, but automated assistance is going to grow in 2018. Technologies around Parking Assistance, Video Recognition and Obstacle Alerts have risen in 2017 and are expected to stay on the current path to develop further and move towards the goal of a fully automated automobile industry. Prototypes for automated public transport systems were, somewhat successfully, tested in many countries in 2017 and the project of automating public transport might just get its track in 2018.
# Digital Immortality?
Is it really possible to connect to a computer and upload your mind to its hard drive and become immortal? It is, although only in movies, but it may partially forge out as a truth in 2018. Mind Hacking or Consciousness Hacking sparked its way into some like-minded ‘geniuses’ around the globe way back in 2013 and has been a heavily debated topic. Research is in full flow to build technologies which assist human life in their physical, spiritual and psychological well-being. Using hardware to analyse human connection to the world in both physical and psychological aspect can help researchers understand human life and expand it. The combination of Consciousness Hacking and Bio-Field sciences can help human life achieve a longer lifespan.
# 3D Grows Big
3D printing has been around for over 30 years and it has come a long way from printing jewellery and toothbrushes. Nowadays 3D printers are used heavily in industries such as aviation, healthcare, sports equipment, automobile and food. 3D printed prosthetics have become a known name among healthcare professionals, and are used all around the globe. The 3D printing market is expected to reach 32.78 billion USD by the end of 2023, and 2018 is expected to be the catalytic factor in achieving that goal. For instance, NASA has just started engine tests with 3D printed parts to reduce its production and launch costs. The arms and ammunition industry is also expected to come forth with some breakthroughs in 3D printing.
# Robot Uprising?
2018 might witness the biggest robot uprising we have seen until now. Robots are expected to be integrated with all major industries to increase efficiency and reduce the human errors. Transportation, workforce and food are a few other sectors where the use of robots has already started at a small level. Robots deliver pizzas, help in production and create sandwiches in some parts of the globe, but it is just a speck of dust when compared to what might follow. Sophia, a humanoid robot which is just a year and a half old is making heads turn all around the globe. In October 2017, Sophia was granted full citizenship by Saudi Arabia, making it the first human-made robot to receive citizenship. It marked the beginning of the familiarity of robots among the people on important chairs, and which might result in the merger of robots and industries around the world in 2018.
# The BIoT is here
Internet of Things is simply a network of physical devices such as your electrical appliances, vehicles and other devices embedded with software, sensors and network connectivity, to enable these objects to connect with each other and exchange data. IoT enabled users to integrate their devices with their smart phones and tech giants have provided user-assistants for the same. One such example is Amazon’s Alexa which can order a sandwich or turn off your lights for you. But Blockchain, one of the most underrated and overused technologies of 2017 can change it all for good. Combining IoT with Blockchain to create Blockchain Internet of Things or BIoT creates a whole system for businesses around the world. Taking an example, the BIoT technology can be used to create smart cities which manage the traffic lights better to manage peak hours and avoid traffic-jams. 2018 can see many such advancements and companies will use this technology to achieve easy data collection from sensors and actuators, and swift data collection results in the benefit of everyone in the chain, from the producer to the end consumer.
# The Power of Quantum Computing
As of 2017, Quantum Computing has seen technical advancements made by the second, but we are still far from creating an actual quantum computer. But these advancements have enabled the transformation of computing power and massive scale quantum computers will be able to solve problems which we can’t with the current generation of computers. 2018 can witness multiple strides with quantum computing as IBM recently announced a 50 qubit prototype quantum computer chip. We might be able to witness the development of a 100–200+ qubit system in 2018 itself.
# Cloud on the Edge?
Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Everything (IoE) have given rise to intelligent applications and devices which has birthed the need for distributed computing for decision-making and effective analytics. This makes ‘Edge Computing IoT’ the perfect candidate for a new market in 2018. The digital world is dependent on real-time solutions (nearly real-time) and it will require us to overcome constraints such as latency, connectivity and bandwidth. Edge Computing can frame a future without these constraints and it is one of the top technical advancements to look out for in 2018.
