The pace of advancement and the growth of technology is astounding. During the last decade, the rapid evolution of the top emerging technology trends was so revolutionary that even technologies that people considered science fiction are already becoming mainstream. Various emergent technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), wearable devices, and smart home tech are already very accessible and popular. These emerging technologies are widespread and well-accepted among enthusiasts, but they also gain a vast commercial market among general consumers and various industries alike.
This pace of development of emergent technologies also accompanies computer science innovation like Artificial Intelligence (AI) alongside technologies like Machine Learning (ML), Big Data, and Deep Learning. These technologies enable the ability to make machines and devices “intelligent” and capable of making smart decisions. These innovations are also driving the digital technologies and transformation of the industries towards the next industrial revolution, i.e., the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) or Industry 4.0.
Read more: The Diverging Paths Of VR and AR
With Industry 4.0 inching closer than ever, emerging technology and devices are getting more popular. This move also coincides with the response of general consumers getting more acceptable and willing to try out new experimental technologies. Nevertheless, newer bleeding-edge technologies are getting more popular among general consumers.
Technologies like AR, VR, wearables, smart home technologies alongside the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G communication technology, robotics technology, and blockchain are probably the top emerging technology of this decade. Apart from this, serverless computing or cloud computing, biometrics technology, natural language processing, and quantum computing are also the best-emerging technologies.
Some technologies like quantum computing, 5G technology, and cloud computing are relatively new compared to other emerging technologies. Nevertheless, these technologies will shape the future of the technological landscape, which will impact industries, the production market, and general consumers on a larger scale.
The intuitiveness of technologies like AR and VR, AI enabling autonomy and intelligent behaviors in various devices and systems, and cloud computing allowing for virtually limitless computing power are a few of the lucrative benefits we get from these emerging technologies. However, these technologies’ benefits and advantages in product development, research, and development are too good to ignore besides providing elegant solutions and enabling innovative ideas to dominate the consumer market.
Consequently, various industries and consumer markets are moving swiftly to develop, adopt and use AR, VR, Wearables, and smart home tech. As a result, researchers expect that the global market for AR VR and similar Mixed Reality (MR) technologies will cross 30 Billion US Dollars in 2021. The researchers also forecast that the global AR and VR market will rise to reach 300 Billion US Dollars by 2024.
This exponential rise of the AR and VR market will also be in technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), smart home tech, and wearables. Thus, technologies will develop and grow together. It will ultimately increase the adoption and accessibility of smart home technology, which relies heavily on IoT and miniature technology like wearables. Subsequently, all these technologies complement each other, and the rise in one tech will influence the increase of other technologies.
The global market for smart home technology is forecast to reach about 139 Billion US Dollars by 2026 from the market size of 84.5 Billion US Dollars in 2021. It establishes an annual growth rate of 10.4%. Similarly, wearable technology will also experience a considerable rise, with a forecast to increase with a compound annual growth rate of 13.8% from 2021 to 2028.
These figures also account for the dip in the global market value due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, while after the effects of the pandemic subside, the market will rise. Furthermore, the market rise will also happen due to the exposure of online technologies among general consumers during the lockdown period.
Read more: How AR VR Leads Growth in Emerging Devices
These figures and rates of increase in market size undoubtedly show these technologies’ high potential and that the market for these technologies is becoming mainstream. It’s due to the significant impact these technologies have had on consumers and numerous industries alike for the past decade.
Impact of Emerging Technologies on the World
Immersive technologies like AR and VR offer vast benefits by enabling new experiences for consumers and various industries. These benefits and experiences are so advantageous that companies and various industries are swiftly marching to adopt these technologies and leverage their benefits.
AR and VR offer immersive consumer experiences and enhance these experiences, and it also provides an excellent platform for various industries and production houses. Furthermore, multiple applications and use cases of AR and VR enable a new way of engagement and interaction with consumers and industrialists alike.
Hence, AR and VR have risen to become mainstream technology in various industries during the past decade. Companies use AR and VR for product development and enable innovative Research and Development (R&D) technologies. Due to this, the companies are getting better with product development. They are doing it much more efficiently, more quickly, and cost-effectively while churning out a more lucrative return on investments (ROI).
Various companies have emerged with devices that provide AR and VR experiences in the commercial market. Due to this, people can easily consume AR and VR content. In addition, the e-commerce industry is also moving towards incorporating AR and VR technologies for superior product browsing experience with realistic product visualizations enabling unseen levels of customizations and “tryouts” with the products.
For numerous industries with production lines and plants, AR and VR tech enables real-time monitoring and optimization with the help of integration of tech like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Therefore, AI and ML with AR and VR enable numerous new opportunities and possibilities for various industries.
AR and VR training scope is also enormous with nuclear, medical, aerospace, etc., where movement is complex and even very dangerous with traditional training approaches. Hence, today more companies, organizations, and industries use AR/VR training to train their workers or employees.
Today, simulation technology has become so advanced that it enables real-time high fidelity simulations with realistic physics enabling high accuracy with the real world. It allows solutions to like Robotic Simulation Services, Offline Robot Programming, and much more. Simulations today can imitate the real world so well that production environments and sites utilize this to optimize, plan, or even develop production lines and sites. Simulations and IoT technology in convergence also enable digital twins, a vast technological marvel that allows for digital research and development of products.
Various industries across the globe are adopting digital twins for their product development and research. As a result, enterprises can develop better products and yield better ROI, benefitting both the industries themselves and the consumers.
Besides, robotic technology progresses fast with innovative solutions like robotics simulation services and offline robot programming. More industries achieve autonomy with better and smarter robots powered by AI technologies like ML and big data. Enterprises monitor and optimize production lines in real-time and with some level of independence through these technologies.
Wearables are also making giant strides across the lives of people. More and more people now have smartwatches that enable various functions and features remotely and provide information. Most of these watches generally focus more on fitness, with the features like heartbeat monitors, diet regulators, fitness guides, etc., built right in.
More and more devices are getting smarter with the power of IoT. Hence homes are slowly converging towards being “smart” houses. Smart home tech is becoming very popular due to the attraction of autonomy and informatics. Smart homes are capable of controlling the house environment, lights, and even doors and garages. For instance, smart homes today can automatically turn off lights and any electrical devices when no member is home or everyone leaves the house. Likewise, it can automatically turn on lights and air conditioners as per home members’ needs.
Similar functions are available in smart home tech that is changing the way we live in our houses. With houses having more smart devices connected through IoT technology, the whole house behaves like an active part of the user’s life and not just a place to stay. These emergent technologies are changing the way we live in our houses and live our lives and industries that cater to the global market. Moreover, years of top emerging technology trends have smartened devices and digital systems with the power of AI and remain connected to us through cloud computing systems. Thus, it propels our world towards an actual digital age where everything is connected and autonomy is finally within our grasp.
