The year is sprinting towards a close and we are looking ahead into 2018. With technology in a continuous state of evolution, we would like to make a few predictions about what 2018 will hold for the technology world. We expect to see more of the same in some areas, but in other areas we expect to see some big changes.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

AR and VR are at the top of the list. Wearable technology (specifically glasses) that blurs the line between reality and digital is the next goal that we are racing towards. In the meantime, in 2018, we will see the building blocks to this on our mobile phones. In 2018 I expect to see the early attempts at a new technology platform that will eventually become the next must-have in the same way that the smartphone was. This will bridge the gap in AR and VR being the new normal.

Artificial Intelligence

AI has already become integrated in the daily life of most people at this point. Machine learning robots are learning at an exceptional rate. I think it’s safe to say that in the next year, we will have some serious advances with AI. Perhaps even past where we want it to go. AI technology in things like self-driving cars is sure to steadily rise as businesses work to compete with one another. Chatbots, virtual assistants, and more are already a part of daily life for most humans. They will only be learning more, fine tuning their skills and adding in more capabilities in the next year.

Robotics

We see robotics being another avenue that has big expansion in the next year. This may even mean that robotics will face more regulations in the next year as they rise in prevalence. The large development of robotics across various industries alongside the great growth in AI technologies has led to the convergence of these two technologies. This works to accelerate the development of the next generation of intelligent robots for industrial, commercial, and consumer applications. These technologies working further together is going to be a big advancement in 2018.

Dr. Jing Bing Zhang, research director, Worldwide Robotics and IDC Asia/Pacific Manufacturing Insights:

The advancement of robotics technology has entered into a new era of robotics with embedded and/or cloud-based artificial intelligence. In this new era of Robotics 3.0, intelligent robots are characterized by their ubiquitous sensing and connectivity, cyber-physical fusion, autonomous capabilities (such as cognition, decision making, and learning and adaptation), and more human-friendly multimode interaction. This development will have a profound impact on industrial robots and service robots (both commercial and consumer). Leading robotics technology vendors are already racing to develop and incorporate artificial intelligence capabilities into their product road map in order to stay ahead of the competition.

 The Elon Musk Factor

Every once in awhile, we come into contact with a great mind that continuously pushes the envelope and pushes for growth around them. Elon Musk is that person. Musk will make huge technological strides in 2018 as he continues to make an enormous impact by continually driving innovation. His companies, covering many genres of technology, are continually developing bigger and better concepts and technologies. Innovators like Musk set the pace and challenge others to keep up. This will equal a rise of development in the next year.

Jeff Bezos – The 100 Billion Dollar Man

Similar to Musk, Jeff Bezos is the kind of person who is changing the world. Called the “ultimate disrupter” Bezos has managed to upend the book industry, displace electronics merchants, and far beyond.  He offers a new and more efficient way to do things –and the rest of the world must adapt. Sink or swim. In 2018, I think we will see more expansion, new disruptions, new breaks with the norm that will leave certain industries scrambling. The results will be better innovation, better technology, and better business.

What are your predictions for the tech world in 2018? What do you think will phase out and what do you think will flourish and thrive? Leave your predictions below!