We have seen massive changes in technologi­cal trends in the past five years, from bezel-less phones to razor-thin gaming laptops. Many of these would have been written off as too difficult to achieve in the past, but here we are when concepts like artificial intelli­gence, block chains and cryp­tocurrency have started taking shape. With the advancement in computing hardware, there has also been sufficient change in the way we use these hardware. But as interesting as looking back at the past may be, the future still holds undiscovered and gen­eration-defining tech. We have already seen glimpses of these technologies, but which ones would most likely make it big in the next five years? Let’s find out!

 

Androids: Not as in Google Android, but more in terms of robotics. There have been many conversationalists among robots in the past few years, just like Sophia who came to Nepal. We also see it miniaturized in our phones in the form of Goo­gle Assistant, Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. These AI systems have been augmented with machine learning and can now even learn from your behavior and respond accordingly. With more research and development into artificial intelligence, there is no doubt the AI will take a more humane form and human-com­puter interactions might as well change drastically. Who knows? Maybe the future holds a Saman­tha for all of us!

 

The Internet of Things: With artificial intelligence get­ting smarter and smarter, things will also become easier for its end users. Once a computer can logically think on its own, it’s sure to help you automate most of your daily chores. To pave the way to a more autonomous household, home assistants like Google Home and Amazon Echo already control our homes to some extent. But with almost every electronic unit now ship­ping with Wi-Fi capabilities, it won’t be long before all of your gadgets are controlled by a cen­tral control unit. This definitely make it easier for us humans, as many mundane daily tasks can be delegated to a computer but at the same time, it also increases risks of hackers basically con­trolling your house.

 

Virtual Reality and Aug­mented Reality: I know, every tech writer out there has touted the importance of VR and AR, but AR and VR are yet to truly take off. In fact, the interest in tech has plummeted recently, but regardless, the technology stands strong with good support from the tech community and constant advancement in the field. Even games as popular as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has adopted the platform. Further fueled by the massive success of Pokemon Go, there’s clear evi­dence that the technology has promise and can work wonders if implemented well.

 

But the platform still suffers from growing pains. Since it’s such a new platform, proper implemen­tation is a tough nut to crack but developers, gaming studios and even enthusiastic individuals are already experimenting with it.