Technology is such an integral part of today’s lifestyle. Much of the convenience that we enjoy today, in various aspects of day-to-day living, can be attributed to constant technological innovation.

For the love of technology and exciting innovations happening every second, this is an effort to depict how our life was a decade ago, the way we live today and visualize how our near future will look like, enriched by technology and its advancements.

Smart Homes

From digitally-disconnected home appliances of the last decade, our homes now are full of smart gadgets like phones, electric lighting and television. At the tip of our fingers, through a mobile app, we can turn on these devices and manage them.

According to Statista, there will be around 82.5 million home automation systems by 2021 in the US alone.

Amazon’s Echo and Google Home have made their way into homes, not only in developed markets but also in emerging consumer markets.

Zion Market Research predicts that the smart home market will reach $53.45 billion by 2022.

The homes of the future will have Smart Home OS that can help manage all the connected devices like lighting, heating, kitchen appliances, washing, home inventory and the like. Diagnostics & Maintenance of all these devices can be proactively done using technologies like predictive analytics based on Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Your Smart Home Assistant could shop online on your behalf based on the demand and supply forecast using ML & AI technologies. Call it smart home commerce, if you wish. ?

Home security will get smarter. The data of your home can be used by businesses to get consumer insights. You could charge them for your data!

 

Commute

Hasn’t your commute been a lot easier than prior to the taxi-booking app era? Yes, traffic congestion has not allowed for much of a delight in your commute the experience. But, wait! The future probably has all these problems solved already! From sustainable fuel for automobiles to autonomous cars, everything is being set in order to enrich your commute experience.

In the next five years, there will be enough traction in the autonomous cars and fleet space, with all the major automakers across world investing in this technology.

With the different levels of autonomy defined by the SAE, the user perception in terms of safety of autonomous-driven automobiles will grow more positive.

I have been mentioning delivery drones for a while now. Companies like NASA and Google X’s Moonshot are all working on developing prototypes for Unmanned Air Traffic Control Systems and their management. So, as much as delivery drones are a near future, so are the control systems that would manage these vehicles.

Flying taxis are the next-in-line innovation in the commute space. Battery operated, helicopter-like flying vehicles are currently being tested. In the next 5-10 years, don’t be surprised if your general mode of transport is flying instead of driving.

And then there is hyperloop – the high-speed, low-pressure tube train that could cover hundreds of miles in a matter of a few minutes. Most exciting intercity travel experience! You really can stay in any city and work in a city far, far away from home, not worrying about time being wasted in commute.

Shopping

Gone are the good old days of shopping in crowded markets! You can now shop for groceries to fashion apparels to utility products – all from the comfort of your home or on the go with the click of an app. If this has not already been amazing, wait till the delivery drones show up to bring you what you want – faster and safer than you can imagine! Amazon has a 30-minute delivery-by-dron on its cards.

You may just have to cut down your urge for retail therapy as your Smart Home Assistant will take care of your shopping needs with its ultra-cutting-edge predictive analytics and smart home-commerce technology!

If you still want to walk into a retail store, the shopping experience would be totally different than today. You will know exactly the closest store that sells the product you are looking for and its location with the aisle number. Thanks to your home assistant. This is already WIP as I write and you read this.

If you want to indulge in a more experiential shopping, you can spend a day in indulgence while the 3D immersive and VR experiences help you try out what you want to buy. You can try different styles and colours with digital screens at your disposal and customize to suit your personal taste. There would be no checkout counters and long billing queues. You chosoe and place your order on a digital screen at the store or on your smartphone and it gets drone-delivered to your doorstep. Like it? You bet!

 

Entertainment

The television and radio from our homes that received the broadcast content from satellite transmission are shifting towards on-demand content delivered through the internet. You can now watch all of your programmes either on your mobile or tablet PC or on a smart TV whenever and wherever you want.

A study conducted by Ericsson found that approximately 70% of consumers now watch television programmes and videos on a smartphone, which is double the percentage from just five years ago. Ericsson predicts that by 2020, only 10% of people will watch TV on a traditional screen, which would mark a 50% decrease in comparison to 2010. 

The new Smart TVs would soon have VR technology to provide a better immersive experience in innovative and exciting ways.

With a myriad of connected devices and vast data about consumer behaviour, the future of entertainment will see more experiential, immersive, engaging and personalized content, on demand, anytime, anywhere.

 

 

 

Finance

Finance has been one of the major industries impacted by evolving and emerging tech. Thanks to the digital world, you now don’t need physical or magnetic currency unless you are going to a place without internet. Pretty unimaginable, isn’t it?

Cash and cards are changing to digital & mobile wallets. Now blockchain and cryptocurrency will decentralize banks.

With the internet and a smartphone in your pocket, you don’t need a bank as much anymore.

Bank-bots will be your new bank service personnel.

Future payments and transactions could be voice-based, with all the voice and text recognition technology evolving.

Blockchain will evolve to bring in much-desired transparency and trust in financial transactions.

The finance that we know today may not be the same tomorrow.

 

 

 

Education

Education has also been constantly evolving with the advent of technology. Old classroom-confined methods are long gone and new tools – online and offline – are enabling students to learn from a variety of sources.

Collaboration platforms and social media have made it easier to learn and compete with fellow students across the world.

AR & VR are already replacing the chalk and the board. With AI, ML and Data Analytics at the disposal of technology, learning will move towards self-learning. skill-based, with more focus on application and research. Customized, personalized learning tools will be the future of education.

 

Cheers to technology!!!!