Surprising everyone is the second nature of technology, as if it always has something up its sleeve. And all we can do is wait in anticipation and wonder what technological marvels are coming next. Some of these wonders that should impact the market and our lives are discussed here.

AR and VR: AR/VR hardware environment is bound to be healthy. Though it has seen a reasonable success in the gaming world, how it will impact consumer and business-focused applications is yet to be seen. While VR is more immersive, AR provides more freedom for the user to be present in the world being experienced. On one hand AR and VR versions of practically everything is in the making, on the other demand for wearables seems to be on a decline. With growth of IoT, fascination for ditching the wires and the excitement about these types of devices, the possibilities of a magical world are limitless.

Powered by Cloud: Companies will focus on the real intent why mobile applications are being used. Applications are reduced to front-ends and entry points to a cloud-based service. Atleast that is how most of the consumers perceive it, knowingly or unknowingly. And hence it is all the more critical now to build cross platform applications that can be used seamlessly across devices.

Blurry Product Groupings: Well defined product categorizations are a thing of past. With new products that overlap various functionalities so effortlessly, the categories are becoming increasingly arbitrary. The possibility that traditional categorizations will not just be blurred but will become real in the new year

‘Smart’ Everything: The number of apps and appliances in the market is way too large but cooperation and collaboration amongst these competitors seems to be missing. Not one of these solutions tie everything together into a single, seamless user experience. As interested consumers try to make individual pieces (with different technical standards, platforms and connectivity requirements) work together as one system, problems quickly become apparent. How this process will turn into a fun, productive experience remains to be deciphered.

Machine Learning: Machine learning updates shall emerge across the board impacting all kinds of applications. With its widespread usages it will soon be the “new normal,” with people expecting this intelligence with every form of technology they interact with. AI and deep learning will be used to offer better recommendations, user experience, etc. and their impact will be seen in the fields of machine vision and natural-language processing (including but not limited to automated assistance systems) as well.

Technology has always been the game changer. We’ll see its implications in stranger territories in time to come. The opportunities of technology impacting our lives are endless; be it simple IoT-based or some innovative application using novel technologies.