Technologies to Watch Out for in 2017!

Artificial Intelligence will become Mainstream

Are you a big fan of Iron Man? Have you seen what Jarvis could do to help him? Do you want to have a Jarvis of your own? Those days are not very far way!

Artificial intelligence internally is an umbrella of multiple technologies like machine learning, deep learning, neural networks & natural language processing. It is a system that moves beyond traditional rule-based algorithms towards understanding, learning, predicting & adapting to user’s activities.

Although AI has been in the talks since last few years, its usage & adoption was limited due to lack of awareness, technological advancements & high cost. But lately the world has seen a slew of products using artificial intelligence offering an enhanced user experience.

I believe everyone would have come across the Chabot in Facebook Messenger offering to book a calendar, played with Google Allo asking all kind of weird queries you had in mind, picked the auto reply messages generated in Google’s Inbox and do I even have to mention SIRI. AI is going to take over multiple industries this year starting from Consumer Electronics (Smart Appliances), Automotive (Autonomous Vehicles), Banking (Predictive financial models) & E-Commerce (Chatbots). Over the next 5 years, AI will become part of every product, application & service.

Smart Homes will see the rise of Virtual Assistants

A Smart Home basically makes a user’s home safe, secure & convenient to live using technology. Traditionally a Smart Home comprises of a connected central home hub enabling users to seamlessly interact with other devices like sensors, camera, home appliances etc. at the reach of their smartphone.

But a recent emerging trend in the smart home space is not the use of these hubs but just a single device with an integrated virtual personal assistant which helps the users with any queries they might have. If you’re a user of Amazon Echo you would know what I’m trying to explain. Alexa, would you book a cab for me please; Alexa, could you order some tomatoes? Is all you’ve to say

Slowly Alexa is getting integrated into Consumer Appliances like refrigerator, washing machine etc. The CES 2017 saw few other VPA’s like Alexa planned for launch. Google Home is also on the way. You would have seen the recent demo of Jarvis by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg which went viral – and that’s what would be the future of Smart Homes.

Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality will change the way people interact with things

Virtual Reality is basically a virtual world of objects with which users can interact. Augmented Reality is where virtual objects and information are displayed on top of the physical world.

Virtual Reality was a big hit in 2016 with some big product launches coming from various companies. Oculus Rift was released which received a great response and thousands of VR apps and games followed. Also came Pokémon Go, an AR game, which crossed over 100 million downloads.

The market is ready & ripe for AR and VR. We’ve already seen some early-stage devices and tech for these applications, but its 2017 when things will really take off. Once it does, there will be practically AR & VR versions of everything. VR Gaming, VR Video Content will see an exponential adoption. New applications will arise in training scenarios and providing remote experiences. AR will make its way to the smartphones in a big way.

Internet of Things will evolve at a Faster Pace

Internet of Things popularly known as IoT has been at the peak of Hype Cycle since last 5 years. But what is this IoT? It’s something which people doesn’t even realize that they’re using every day. The smartphones, laptops, smart watches, Bluetooth headsets etc. which consumers use every day incorporate elements of IoT. Simply put, IoT refers to a network of networked devices and more & more devices are being put on this network every day. “Smart” devices are quickly becoming the norm for new products coming into the market.

IoT powers of lot of industries starting from Smart Cities & Homes to Smart Cars & Connected Health. Fitbit like devices will rule the market in 2017 with consumers embracing more health related IoT devices. Smart cities would see devices interacting with each other to enable solutions like Smart Lighting, Smart Parking & Waste Management. The Key to IoT’s success is Interoperability. The merger of Allseen Alliance into Open Connectivity Foundation is one such step to create a truly open standard for enabling interoperability.

3D Printers will enter the consumer market

3D printers have been making a lot of noise in the market lately. But what is it all about? The days when you get to make your own Batman/Superman toy at home is not very far. 3D printers have been around for some time now but the prices are well above the level that most of us can afford.

This trend is set to change this year. The prices of 3D printers are expected to come down to say $100-$150. A decent 3D printer today costs around $200-300, half of what they cost just a year ago. By the end of 2017, 3D printers might become the best holiday gift for kids.