What changes in the technology world can be expected in the next five years?

As a person who influences technical innovation in a software company, I depend on predicting how current trends in the technical world will matter, merge, dissipate or expand. Here are some of my predictions about what the world will be by 2020.

Property concepts will be revised.

Think about the things you use every day: your smartphone, your computer, your control panel, and so on. Almost all of this (if not all) is your personal belongings.

However, in the future, you will probably share them with others.
')
Recently, we have been witnessing the rise of the co-consumption economy; You can not only stop at someone's home thanks to Airbnb, but also swim in someone's boat thanks to Sailo, fly on someone's private plane with OpenAirplane and ride someone's snowboard with Spinlister.

This is only the first wave. Such large players as Google, Apple and Uber are developing new technologies for the automotive sector, so in five years it’s likely that you’ll go to the office not by your own car, but by the car that you ordered in the morning from your mobile. If you wish, you can change models and brands every day.

In five years, companies will have to think globally and be able to adapt global trends to the needs of the local market if they want to stay afloat.

Oh yeah, what about the office? Its location was chosen not only to make it optimal for you and your colleagues, but also predetermined by your work preferences.

The system of joint consumption is more efficient, as it allows the use of resources 24/7, and not only when we personally use them. And since everything will be adapted to our needs and desires, there will be a feeling that all the things we use belong to us.

"The Power of Reason"

In the past, we relied solely on keyboards and other input tools in order to control devices. Then speech recognition technology came, which was an improvement, because now we don’t even need to touch the devices if we don’t want it.

And the next logical step would be to create a technology that allows you to mentally control devices. Scientists have already developed prostheses that can be controlled with brain impulses. The new wireless transmitter allows paralyzed patients to control TVs, computers and wheelchairs, giving commands with thought.

I think that in the future such mental computer control will be universal. Instead of saying, “Hey, Siri,” you only need to think.

The most promising players in this area at the moment are Emotiv (a company engaged in bioinformatics and using EEG technology to develop a neurocomputer interface) and BrainGate (a research team that created a wireless transmitter for paralyzed patients).

In addition, the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne has developed a “collaborative management” technology that in many ways complements the EEG and gives paralyzed people even greater control over their wheelchairs.

Unite and simplify

At present, the idea of ​​the Internet of Things is attracting widespread attention. We can control everything from mobile devices: a thermostat, a refrigerator, a car, a garage, a garden ... And that means a lot of sensors and measurements. We will analyze, measure and monitor a large number of factors than now.

But after 10 years, when technology becomes more mature, we will see the simplification of the Internet of Things ecosystem.

Instead of measuring whether there is enough water in the toilet, soap in the soap box, whether the lighting is perfect, your smart bathroom will ask you: “Is everything OK?” To this you can answer: “Everything is OK” or maybe something like, "No, soap is over." This eliminates the need to keep track of many things and makes the experience of interacting with such a system more human. Ultimately, our devices will rely on our feedback as much as on their data.

Among those who advocate a more “social” Internet of things, are senior members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Luigi Atzori, Antonio Iera and Giacomo Morabito.
Globalization and localization
Due to the fact that travel has become easier, as well as the widespread distribution of social applications and services for communication, we now live in a unified world. Adapting a global trend to each region can be a daunting task.

In the future, everything will be globalized and adapted: we will get localized versions of the global trend. Currently, Uber in India can serve as an example. Since for local residents a small price is more important than comfort during a ride, Uber recently launched a new service in Delhi, thanks to which customers can use rickshaw services. In order to avoid problems with the authorities, users in Delhi are ready to pay for travel in cash.

Virtual reality is real!

More recently, the New York Times raised a hefty sensation by sending along with its Sunday newspaper a cardboard virtual reality helmet Google Cardboard to all print subscribers. Now you can try out a completely new experience, learning the news through virtual reality; and in five years you will be able to try anything you want thanks to the new-old technology.

There is no doubt that by 2020, fun, interesting times will come.

But virtual reality itself will change. Instead of fulfilling the role of an alternate reality, it will be tightly connected to your reality. Say goodbye to the bulky helmets that shield you from the outside world, and welcome the non-eye-catching technology that ensures your immersion into three-dimensional virtual reality without interfering with the view of your surroundings and the wide field of view.

Today, there are initiatives to develop low-cost technologies using an additional pixel that does not isolate so much from the outside world. In addition, the US startup Magic Leap (which received funding for more than half a billion dollars) is rumored that their first product will not need a screen.

In 2020, virtual reality technology will be integrated into many aspects of our lives, from entertainment and education to work and exploring the world around us.

We are waiting for a lot of changes on the way to new definitions of “yours” and “mine”, new methods of controlling devices, new mechanisms of the Internet of things, new requirements for globalization and localization, and finally new advances in the field of virtual reality. There is no doubt that exciting changes await us.